Everyone knows that Chuck and Jim Dolan are among the most made-fun-of moguls because of their scattershot deal making, their intrafamily squabbling, and their arrogant dismissing of shareholders. There's even been something called the Dolan Discount for a long time -- a penalty put on the stock of their No. 5 Cablevision, because investors don't trust the duo. But their dysfunction has been overlooked of late as the stock price has shot up. The Wall Street Journal now is laying it on the line -- at least as much as it can using wish-washy language of mainstream journalism -- and calling for Jimmy Dolan (aka the leader of blues band JD & The Straight Shot) to get the fuck out as Cablevision CEO. The “Heard On The Street” column says the company is right now overvalued unless lucky sperm club member Jimmy “as speculated” leaves to run his company’s Madison Square Garden subsidiary, thus clearing the way for a buyer for Cablevision. That's because the real brains of the operation is COO Tom Rutledge, and the WSJ warns that when his contract is up in December “it isn’t a slam dunk” that he’ll re-sign. My own sources say some pretty important people have been whispering it’s time for the clown parade at Cablevision to end so that Time Warner Cable or Comcast can take over its coveted franchises concentrated in NYC’s most affluent suburbs.
Stopping The Clown Parade At Cablevision
By Nikki Finke | Category: Cable | Wednesday June 17, 2009 @ 5:57pm
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There will be mass Knick fan suicide if Jim Dolan spends more time paying attention to the Knicks. Won’t be as bad for the Rangers since he mostly leaves them alone, but the Rangers also don’t have a rival potentially moving into the same city like the Knicks do if the Nets to Brooklyn deal ever happens (especially since Lebron James will probably go to the Nets if they go to Brooklyn).
Cablevision is the worst and why they’re allowed to run a virtual monopoly on Long Island is a shame. The only competition is Verizon (forget Dish TV), but it’s not in all areas. If Verizon was in my town, I’d switch tomorrow, but it’s not, so until that happens, I’m stuck with the ditzy Dolans. FYI, what they’re doing to Newsday, once a fine, proud newspaper is an abomination.
I’ve never worked for a bigger knucklehead dufus than Jimmy Dolan and I’ve known plenty in a TV/Media career that’s spanned 25yrs+. He’s a totally self-involved, low talent, lucky sperm who’s had it all given to him on a silver spoon. It’s amazing that he’s lasted this long. It will be justice served once he’s gone.
As despised as the Dolans are (not without justification, I must admit) they are about the only thing standing in the way of Time Warner and Comcast totally dominating the cable industry. Be careful what you wish for…
The best thing that could happen to Cablevision is the departure of Dolan and Rainbow being sold to a legit media company. If that were to happen then the new owners should do a serious gutting and get rid of upper management lifers at Rainbow who have built their careers on mediocrity. The culture at Cablevision/Rainbow is to treat employees horribly, get rid of anyone with talent and then take credit for what the talent achieved.
An ongoing joke among the few smart employees is
Question: “What’s the worst thing you can do at Cablevision?”
Answer: “Succeed”
I’m a former Cablevision employee with nothing bad to say about the Dolans. I was treated well, made good money, left of my own accord, and enjoy many fond memories of my time there. While some of the criticisms are valid, Jim is no dummy and I always found his questions made me think about my business in a more analytical way.