Rupert Murdoch to buy Newsday?

Sorry if a d_b, but please say it isn't so...

http://www.iht.com/articles/2007/01/24/business/tribune.php

 

Not sure if this is a d_b...
But, the WSJ had this a few weeks ago. He would buy the company with the Chandler Trust. Then, he would then turn around and combine the technical aspects and presses with the NY Post.

 

In 1987 when Newsday was putting all kinds of money into the NYC edition, I interviewed there and asked the SE about chances for advancement. He said,"When the Post and Daily News fold, there will be plenty of chances for advancement." Of course this didn't happen, but it shows how things have changed in 20 years now that we have to worry about Rupert swallowing a primo property like Newsday.

I imagine if this happens, it will kill the Daily News and Murdoch will gut the Newsday newsroom to Post-like numbers, although I doubt he will change the tone to Post-like. This would be bad, bad, bad.

 

Interesting article in Forbes on Murdoch buying Myspace. Says News Corp will cull information from myspace entries and sell it to advertisers. Shelley Mae in Brownsville mentions on her myspace page she likes Burger King and Estee Lauder? Great. We'll sell her burgers and makeup.

Goodbye "cool" myspace. Hello corporate myspace.

Regarding Newsday... If Trib needs to sell Newsday because it's run afoul of cross-ownership rules... (owns WPIX and Newsday, which looks like won't be allowed any longer) .... how does Fox not run afoul of the same rules? (FOX already owns 2 stations in NYC.)

 

Luggy, Murdoch for a long time got annual cross-ownership waivers, mainly because Ted Kennedy (whom he used to rip daily in the Boston Herald) wouldn't give him a full one. He may have one now.

And why would Murdoch buy Newsday? I don't see what's in it for him unless he keeps both papers going, as mentioned in the IHT article. Totally different advertising bases. Some advertisers would do combo buys, though not many.

I would think Justice would have a problem with this, specifically with anti-trust rules and Murdoch being able to corner a higher percentage of advertising revenue in the market, especially if one paper eventually gets the ax.

 

1.) Newsday in its own right is a great business and the only daily based on Long Island.

2.) A Post-Newsday combo can gang up to squeeze the shit out of the Daily News.

3.) The story suggests they'd share printing facilities, meaning they can close one plant and lay off those workers.

4.) They could share other resources.

 

I don't see the Daily News folding anytime soon. But what do I know?

Yeah, they could close a plant, I guess. But if the papers share too many resources, who's gonna buy both? Surely there are some out on LI who do.

 

<a href="http://uk.reuters.com/article/businessNews/idUKN1053997820080510">Murdoch reportedly drops out, likely making Cablevision the next owner.</a>

 

Murdoch on his worst day is 100,000,000x better than lil' Jimmy Dolan would be on his best.

I mean, even the JRC does not hold journalists in as much contempt as Dolan does.

If the FCC gave a shit about anything except embracing monopolies, it'd stop this in a split fucking second. This is appalling.

This happens and I'll never pick up another copy of Newsday and never read another word of its content.

 

Now that we can all breathe easier with Rupert out of the picture, I can't wait to watch this train wreck.

 

There goes anything critical about the Knicks. I wonder if they will even run a wire story for the 55 times a year that the team will lose.

 

Sadly, the FCC has no control over this. Cablevision, to my knowledge, holds no broadcast licenses.

I hope Justice does give this deal some scrutiny, though. Talk about a media monopoly on LI.