Business Beat

Nearly everyone in Medialand seems certain Rupert Murdoch's News Corp. will soon be the new owner of Newsday. The only one now showing a little bit of doubt might be Murdoch himself.

At a company conference call on Wednesday, Murdoch confidently predicted success with $580 million bid, even though it is considerably lower than the $650 million from Cablevision's Charles Dolan. Daily News owner Mort Zuckerman also submitted a competing $580-million bid for the paper.

"No, I don't think Cablevision will prevail," said Murdoch, predicting he'd be approved within a week. "Just be patient a couple of days." Murdoch indicated he though he had a tentative deal with Tribune's chief Sam Zell for Newsday. " We think everything's in hand."
Even long-time Cablevision watchers think Murdoch's the one.

"I think it's a done deal," said Chris Marangi, an analyst at Gabelli & Co, which has also been a stakeholder in the cable firm. "Murdoch doesn't say things by accident."

But at gala Time magazine event on Thursday night, Murdoch conceded his comments to Newsday at the conference call might have been a little premature.

According to The New York Observer, Murdoch "tempered his bravado", referring to his comments from a day earlier."Yeah, I might have gone a little too far saying it was a certainty," he told The Observer. "I was telling the truth, but you don't know until ..." without finishing the sentence.

According to the Observer, Murdoch later said "[Mr. Zell] has a great reputation with the banks and the financial circles everywhere." Zuckerman, also at the Time affair, had a "no comment" when asked if he might increase his $580 million bid for Newsday. The Observer originally wanted to team up with Cablevision in a joint bid for Newsday but has bowed out for now.

Although Marangi thinks Murdoch will likely prevail, his analysis of Cablevision's finances shows that the company's roughly $650 million in estimated free cash flow available this year matches the amount of money bid by Dolan thus far. Without adding significnatly to its long-term debt, Marangi said, Cablevision could probably up its bid even more if necessary.

"If he [Dolan] wanted to, he could go further, but he has a board [of directors] too and he doesn't have carte blanche," Marangi said. In a battle of media billionaires for Newsday's future, Marangi said, "Murdoch's pockets are a lot deeper."

--Thomas Maier

They weren't exactly side by side, by News Corp. CEO Rupert Murdoch and Cablevision chief James Dolan had the chance, separated by less than 12 hours, to talk to the financial press about their companies' bids for Newsday.

What a difference those hours made, according to Devin Leonard of Fortune. Murdoch was bold, speaking freely of his interest in Newsday, how it could help his company and why the suburban daily would be his within a week.

Meanwhile, Dolan was nearly tongue-tied when the subject that he must have expected--Cablevision's interest in Newsday--came up. He didn't even decline comment crisply and sounded a bit put out that people kept asking about it.

Victory doesn't always go to the bold, but Leonard didn't have anything positive to say about Dolan and the Cablevision did--even though it's reported to be $70 more than Murdoch's.

--Noel Rubinton

We’ve heard of people receiving money "no questions asked." But apparently people have plenty of questions about the one-time economic stimulus payments being sent out by the federal government, assuming they are eligible.

There have been so many questions that the Internal Revenue Service has updated the frequently asked questions area on its web site. The most frequent frequently asked question? "When do I see the money?"

For the most part the answer depends on the last two numbers of your social security number. Or if you file jointly, the last two numbers of the social security number of the person listed first on the income tax return.

You can find the schedule, as well as plenty of other answers at this IRS site.

--Patricia Kitchen

Last week customers of KeySpan began receiving bills with National Grid imprinted on them. National Grid completed its purchase of KeySpan in August and on Monday announced that it had begun the logo changeover, which will affect customers on Long Island and other New York metro areas and parts of New England.

The company expects to complete the logo changoever, which also includes company cars and office locations, by year’s end.

The U.K.-based company is also launching a new “power of action” conservation and environmental friendly campaign that -not surprisingly- will tout the virtues of converting to natural gas.

Analysts in the blogosphere and elsewhere continue to talk about what a good pair Sam Zell and Rupert Murdoch would make in a deal to sell Zell's (and Tribune's) Newsday. But they also can't ignore the fact that Cablevision seems to be offering up $70 million more (a premium of over more than 10%) than Murdoch's News Corp.

In his blog today, Ken Doctor (a former Knight Ridder now consulting on media issues) paints a picture of how Cablevision could profit by taking on Newsday. "Is it a "TV-centric" time, as someone close to the Dolan family, who control Cablevision, said?," Doctor asks. "TV-centric misses the point. It's more video-forward than TV-centric. News video is now here to stay."

"There's no doubt that web newsies want the best coverage in one place -- words and pictures," says Doctor. "There's no doubt that if some bright-eyed market entrant were to start a news-gathering and ad-selling operation, she'd do it as a single operation, not as separate "TV" and "newspaper" businesses.

He adds: "That of course is the challenge of synergy. Combining existing staffs and hierarchies, with their skills and skills deficits, is in reality much harder than a white-board exercise. But someone is going to make it work, and Cablevision may be the next to try."

--Noel Rubinton

As a workplace advice columnist I never run out of questions from readers about labor laws. And that’s a good thing.

My only regret is that I don’t have time to answer all the queries.

Here’s some new help for small business owners from the federal government. The U.S. Labor Department has unveiled a new version of its elaws adviser to help small businesses learn about and comply with federal labor laws.

The newest e-law entry is called FirstStep Recordkeeping, Reporting and Notices. This information summarizes the paper work requirements for each law.

To access the summaries go to:

http://www.dol.gov/elaws/firststep

For more on the department’s other elaws, covering such topics as miminum wage, overtime, child labor and veterans’ workplace rights go to:

http://www.dol.gov/ela

--Carrie Mason-Draffen

On and on has gone the speculation over the possible sale of Newsday by Sam Zell's Tribune. Now the hottest property, speculation-wise, seems to be Cablevision.

Fortune's Devin Leonard weighs in with the latest, writing about "Seeking method in Cablevision's madness." After reasoning through, and seriously discounting, Cablevision's reasons and potential benefits in taking over Newsday, Leonard makes a sharp (or sly) turn and says:

"Given this history, Cablevision's bid for Newsday makes sense in a perverse way. The cable operator will almost surely make the same sort of tenuous arguments that it has made in the past. This is the same company that tried to justify the purchase of the now-shuttered Wiz chain by saying it could use to the retail outlet to push its premium television shows and sell tickets to events at Madison Square Garden."

--Noel Rubinton

Here’s a different take on beating the competition. The Long Island Fight for Charity, now in its sixth year, is seeking pin-striped pugilists for its annual Big Event.

The group will train the boxers, who can raise money for charity and whack the competition at the same time.

A kickoff cocktail reception takes place on May 27 at Carlyle on the Green in Bethpage State Park from 5:30 p.m. to 8:30 p.m.

The group has raised $500,000 so far for charity, said Matthew Silver, owner of Ultimate Class Limousine in Hicksville and one of the charity’s co-founders.

The charity has donated to individuals and to groups, he said, including to a woman who received a used car so she could get two work without having to take several buses.

“It’s so important to people who are in need and who are turned away from traditional funding organizations,” Silver said.

The fight takes place on Nov. 24 at the Hilton Long Island. For more information and to register for the kickoff call 516-870-1583 or go to:

www.lifightforcharity.com

--Carrie Mason-Draffen.

The Carle Place retailer 1-800-Flowers.com is partnering with an Islandia company to encourage Long Islanders to recycle old computers.

1-800-Flowers.com and e-Scrap Destruction will hold the recycling drive on June 4 at the 1-800-Flowers store at One Old Country Rd. in Carle Place between 8:30 a.m and 4 p.m. Electronic-waste experts from e-Scape will collect the discarded equipment.

Not wanting to miss a promotional opportunity, 1-800-Flowers will hand out 15 percent-off coupons to people who drop off discarded electronic equipment.

--Carrie Mason-Draffen

Three Long Island companies have made a national list of the 100 best adoption-friendly workplaces the second year in a row.

They are United Business Media in Manhasset, formerly CMP Technology; Kozy Shack in Hicksville and OSI Pharmaceuticals in Melville.

The list is compiled by the Dave Thomas Foundation for Adoption and recognizes companies that offer financial support and paid time off for adoptions. The foundation is named for the late founder of Wendy’s International, who was adopted and active in adoption issues.

To view the entire list go to:

http://www.davethomasfoundation.org/Our-Work/Adoption-Friendly-Workplace/Best-Adoption-Friendly-Workplaces-List

--Carrie Mason-Draffen