To the surprise of no one, the newly private Tribune Co. is probably going to sell Newsday. The once-venerable New York paper, like all metro dailies, has fallen on hard times and Tribune's new CEO and owner Sam Zell has got a mountain of debt to pay down. According to The Wall Street Journal . Long Island-based Cablevision Systems Corp. (NYSE: CVC) and New York's Daily News as potential buyers. Rupert Murdoch probably would love to buy Newsday and combine it with News Corp's (NYSE: NWS) New York Post, but I am not sure whether the antitrust regulators would allow it. He is trying to merge everything but the editorial staffs of the Post -- never a hugely profitable enterprise -- with Newsday to save money in a joint operating agreement, the Journal says.
After spending $5 billion for Dow Jones, Murdoch needs to pick all of the low-hanging fruit he can. I expect this deal to happen. Maybe it will lead to others for papers that buyers are eager to unload. Perhaps, Murdoch might buy other Tribune papers from Zell such as The Baltimore Sun or Los Angeles Times. As the Australian tycoon showed in chasing Dow Jones, influence matters as much to him as profits. Gaining more big papers furthers that goal at the expense of shareholders.
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Reader Comments (Page 1 of 1)
3-21-2008 @ 8:50PM
Tr said...
The rich get richer and the poor have 3 jobs.
Our country is so messed up that I deceided finaly
after 8 years of BUSH I have enough and back to my ancestors in Europe. Oh happy day's
3-22-2008 @ 12:29PM
Kent said...
Rupert Murdoch is the Randolph Hearst of our times. I hope he seriously considers establishing a WSJ cable channel some day. It'll accelerate paying back his $5 bil. debt. I think it'll fly.
3-22-2008 @ 12:29PM
Michael Schneider said...
An interesting vintage item about whether Rupert Murdoch is a visionary is available free with other mogul items in the Moguls section, left side, at http://www.Barrelomedia.com. Lately, he has been making the right moves and is in position to gain from troubles in the print media arena.