It would appear that the New York Daily News will be sold off very cheaply indeed. Reuters reports that Cablevision, owner of another of the city’s titles, Newsday, has pulled out of the auction process after bidding only $1 for the once high-flying tabloid.
Evidently, after investigating the paper’s financial prospects, it has decided not to pursue the acquisition.
Reuters cites a person familiar with the matter as saying that Cablevision couldn’t justify paying even a single dollar “because of its poor financial condition and prospects”.
The source said that even if the company bought the newspaper’s state-of-the-art printing press, it would still lose money on the deal. The News, which has seen a rapid decline in sales, is said to lose $30m a year.
The Daily News’s owner, Mortimer Zuckerman, announced in February that he was seeking a buyer and appointed Lazard to seal a deal.
Other bidders are said to include Jimmy Finkelstein, owner of a Washington newspaper, The Hill; John Catsimatidis, the real estate and grocery chain owner; and another unnamed real estate mogul.
It is unclear whether yet another supposed bidder, the news blog site Gawker, is serious. It says it has dropped its bid to $50.
The News has been edited by a Brit, Colin Myler, since January 2012. He is a former editor of the Sunday Mirror, Daily Mirror and News of the World (up to its 2011 closure).
