If you run a fabulously successful business, one that essentially prints money at will, that must mean you’re a genius, right? But what if you run it only because daddy owned it? Not so genius-y? What if it prints money, but could print a whole lot more money if he hadn’t botched a myriad of decisions, angering its customers to the point where they were willing to pay the phone company competition, an entity hated almost as much, more for the same product?
The Dolan family will never go hungry because Chuck Dolan was a visionary. And Cablevision will continue to pump television through little wires to lots of homes, even as it is reviled monthly for its antipathy, always-increasing charges at will and mediocre service. We can’t live without cable, with or without Food Network.
But when it comes to the death of Newsday, the house organ of Cablevision, the throw-away paper offered as a value-added benefit to Cablevision subscribers, it was done right. They put up a pay wall, and showed us that publisher Jimmy Dolan, Chuck’s son, was a business titan. From the Consumerist :
But there isn’t much of a story in what these lucky 35 mean for Newsday. As described by a reporter, it’s now “freebie newsletter that comes with your HBO.” And really, that’s all the Dolan’s wanted for their $650 million. It’s good to be able to print money.
The real question is whether the Sulzberger family is paying attention. Of course, the New York Times is a much more important newspaper than Newsday. It could get 100 paid subscribers. Maybe more. I’m sure that Punch’s touch is more magical than Jimmy’s.
H/T Turk
The Dolan family will never go hungry because Chuck Dolan was a visionary. And Cablevision will continue to pump television through little wires to lots of homes, even as it is reviled monthly for its antipathy, always-increasing charges at will and mediocre service. We can’t live without cable, with or without Food Network.
But when it comes to the death of Newsday, the house organ of Cablevision, the throw-away paper offered as a value-added benefit to Cablevision subscribers, it was done right. They put up a pay wall, and showed us that publisher Jimmy Dolan, Chuck’s son, was a business titan. From the Consumerist :
Newsday is a Long Island newspaper. Some people bought it for $650 million and put it behind a pay wall. Three months later, they’ve got 35 subscribers. Yes, 35.Thirty five subscribers. Who would have thought that Dolan would have been that successful? By the way, the new website sucks. I mean, really, really sucks.
The web site redesign and relaunch cost the Dolans $4 million, according to Mr. Jimenez. With those 35 people, they’ve grossed about $9,000.
But there isn’t much of a story in what these lucky 35 mean for Newsday. As described by a reporter, it’s now “freebie newsletter that comes with your HBO.” And really, that’s all the Dolan’s wanted for their $650 million. It’s good to be able to print money.
The real question is whether the Sulzberger family is paying attention. Of course, the New York Times is a much more important newspaper than Newsday. It could get 100 paid subscribers. Maybe more. I’m sure that Punch’s touch is more magical than Jimmy’s.
H/T Turk
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Course, that’s better than what he did with the Knicks.