At the end of last year, the FCC
voted to change media ownership rules in favor of allowing broadcasters to own newspapers. Cablevision is
investing $650 million to do that with a purchase of Newsday that some hope will prove as a means of reviving the flailing newspaper industry. Cablevision is the first large cable company to invest in a newspaper that shares the same market; the move requires making a change from a competition-based approach to a collaborative approach. Cablevision is selling joint ad packaging and hopes their cable services will benefit from the newspaper’s local Long Island advertising experience. However, analysts say that with newspaper sales on the decline and a drastic change required to make it happen this move may be too much of a long shot to work out.
The cable companies have been in
arguments with the NFL Network all year over the cost of carrying the channel. Some cable companies have refused to carry the channel entirely while others, like Comcast, offer it on a premium-priced tier.
Cablevision has released their
earnings (pdf), and reports a net revenue growth of 12% for the second quarter. The company posted higher profits ($317.4 million) than expected, thanks in part to the sale of their stake in the FSN Bay Area and FSN New England networks to Comcast.
"Cablevision's Optimum Voice service, recently honored by J.D. Power, now reaches 30% of the homes passed by our fiber-rich network, and the penetration rates of all of our consumer telecom services continue to lead the cable industry," concluded Mr. Dolan.
The company says basic cable additions were
"basically flat" (that's code for they lost 348 basic video subscribers), in contrast to the 95,000, 57,000 and 29,300 basic cable customers lost by
Comcast,
Time Warner Cable and
Charter, respectively, this quarter. The company added 39,000 digital cable customers, 50,000 broadband customers and 81,000 VoIP customers.
Cablevision
recently announced that they're now offering customers up to three additional
"Optimum Voice" VoIP lines for $14.95 per month, per line:
Each line enjoys unlimited calling across the U.S., Canada and Puerto Rico and a full array of advanced features -- all included in the flat-rate price -- like caller ID, call waiting, enhanced voicemail, and directory assistance. Cablevision already offers business customers up to eight lines of Optimum Voice.
While the price is nice, users in our
Cablevision forum note that the company charges a $40
"porting fee" and requires a technician visit.
Just when the Dolan family seemed all set to take Cablevision private in a $36 a share, $10.5 billion deal,
Newsday reports the company was forced to reveal additional financial forecasts that indicate the company could soon be far more profitable than expected. Analysts think the company's stock could soar past $100 a share, so investors spent yesterday gobbling up stock (currently
$37.73). The company may now have to boost their offering price to gain shareholder approval.
