Here’s what I think is happening with Cablevision and Newsday. It’s a bold move but I think Newsday.com that is driving this Cablevision deal. Everyone’s talking about printing synergies and news-reporting synergies but I believe that is just rearview mirror business planning.
Ask yourself the question, as newspaper readership and relevance diminish, and as television viewership changes and loses steam, what’s growing? That’s right.
In what business is Cablevision make money ass over tea kettle? That’s right. Where do people turn when they want immediate access to developing news? That’s right. Where do they turn to search for shopping info? That’s right.
Now, where are some of the richest per capita counties in America? That’s right. If the Dolans can figure out how to turn Newsday.com into the first true multimedia, real-time local news and information source, they will invent a new category. They will be looking ahead, not behind. The synergies driving the deal are News12 and broadcast not the newspaper.