Dolan family buys back Newsday from Altice

The Dolan family is buying a majority stake in publishing company Newsday back from Altice USA.

Patrick Dolan, son of Cablevision founder Charles Dolan and brother of former Cablevision chief executive James Dolan, has purchased a 75 percent stake in Newsday Media for an undisclosed sum. Charles Dolan will have what is described as a "small financial interest" and serve on Newsday's board. 

"My father and I, together with our Altice partners, are deeply committed to preserving the state-of-the-art journalism that Newsday has consistently provided and that has served Long Islanders so well," Patrick Dolan said in a statement.

Newsday Media is the parent company of Newsday, amNewYork and the Hometown Shopper papers. In a $650 million deal with Tribune back in 2008, Newsday was folded into the Dolan family sports and media empire, which also includes the Madison Square Garden Group and AMC Networks.

European telecom conglomerate purchased Newsday last year as part of its $17.7 billion takeover of Cablevision. Suffice it to say that the regional newspaper operation was not a core asset that Altice coveted. 

Altice will keep a minority interest in the publishing house. 

For more:
- read this Associated Press story
- read this poynter.org story

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