Earnings Call: Cablevision Believes It Can Better Manage Newspapers' Transition To Digital

imageDespite Cablevision’s Q4’s loss CEO Jim Dolan insisted that the company is weathering the recession pretty well and, in light of recent actions by companies like the NYTCo (NYSE: NYT) and Gannett (NYSE: GCI), the company will maintain its dividend payments at its current level to investors. And while it dropped the VOOM HD service, both Dolan and COO Tom Rutledge said that Cablevision (NYSE: CVC) is not scaling back the build out of its wi-fi network business, which the company is spending $300 million on the initiative. “We’re about a third of the way through it and we’ve spent about $66 million so far,” Rutledge said later in the call.

When the company bought Newsday, many observers questioned Cablevision’s thinking. For one thing, the business is going through an existential crisis. Secondly, what does Cablevision know about newspapers anyway? Addressing those issues, Rutledge said that the company was well aware of the troubles of the newspaper industry. But Cablevision continues to believes that it can better manage the industry’s transition from print to digital and use it to align and strengthen its own services, Rutledge added. “We have begun an integration with Newsday’s classified advertising and our company’s classified product and rebranded it as Optimum Autos. It has great content related to Long Island, it’s a respected brand and it will continue to attract the same advertisers and consumers that we want to reach. That’s ultimately the value that Newsday offers to us. Its news product can be used across our online properties, on cable TV. We believe we can transform this business.”

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