Cablevision Expanding into Newspapers: Going Format Agnostic?
May 12, 2008 – 3:53 pmThis weekend, Cablevision appeared to be the frontrunners in purchasing Newsday, the 11th largest newspaper in the U.S. by circulation. Silicon Alley Insider asks how would Newsday, a Long Island newspaper, fit in the Cablevision empire, with the Knicks, Rangers, Madison Square Garden, and of course, the cable TV business.
It makes some sense for a cable company to own two professional sports teams, given that it therefore controls the broadcast rights to those teams. Cablevision can (and does) bundle Knicks and Rangers games into their MSG television station, which it provides to itself for free (I assume) and to competitors such as Time Warner Cable at some fee.
So again, why Newsday? Perhaps, as Michael Learmonth suggests, it’s simply an advertising aggregation ploy. That’s a simple, sensible answer — so it is probably the right one.
I hope it’s wrong. I hope that instead, Cablevision has designs on creating a format-agnostic “Long Island” vertical. The singular source for all your in information regarding Long Island. They already have the vast majority of your television screens and can easily add a locally-based news station (or expand on their current local news offerings). If so, adding Newsday to the mix would certainly be a step in the right direction, and would be a solid addition.
And this makes sense. As I said earlier today, if an advertiser wants to reach sports fans, a cross-format buy with ESPN would be a no-brainer. If an advertiser wants to get their brand in front of New Yorkers, a Cablevision buy would also be smart — banners at Knicks and Rangers games (and throughout the Garden), spots on any cable channel they can stick it on, and ads in Newsday. That, of course, is pure speculation — but it seems to be the right way to maintain or even increase the value in a newspaper, especially in a climate where the newspaper industry is on the fast track to zero.
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Tags: format agnosticism, newspaper industry, publishing
