Cablevision-Newsday Union Would Raise Regulatory Concerns: Moffett

Should Cablevision Systems succeed in its quest to acquire Long Island newspaper Newsday the deal could come under regulatory scrutiny, according to Sanford C. Bernstein & Co. vice president and senior analyst Craig Moffett. Moffett, in a note released Monday morning, wrote that if Cablevision’s $620 million bid -- currently above the $580 million offered by both Rupert Murdoch’s News Corp., which owns the New York Post and real estate mogul Mort Zuckerman, owner of the Daily News -- wins, it would not be “a regulatory slam dunk.” Moffett points out that while much has been written about anti-trust concerns raised by a Murdoch acquisition of Newsday (News Corp. already runs the Post under an exemption that would ban Murdoch’s because he controls the Fox affiliate in the New York market), Cablevision’s gambit does not cut across similar newspaper/broadcast prohibitions. Nevertheless, Moffett believes a Cablevision/Newsday union would attract scrutiny from the Federal Communications Commission and Congress.
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