Dolans Regain Control of Newsday

Just two weeks after the Dolan family handed over Newsday to Altice as part of the European telecom giant’s $17.7 billion deal for Cablevision, the Dolans have regained control of the Long Island newspaper.

In a memo sent Thursday morning to Newsday Media Group employees, Patrick Dolan, whose father, Charles Dolan, founded Cablevision in 1973, said that he had agreed to buy 75 percent of Newsday Media Group from Altice, which will still hold 25 percent of the company.

Charles Dolan has also agreed to “hold a small financial interest” in the Newsday Media Group, which also owns the free daily newspaper amNewYork, and will serve on the company’s board, according to the memo.

Financial terms of the deal were not disclosed, according to The NY Times.

The Dolan family has owned Newsday since 2008, when it beat out the owners of The New York Post and The Daily News to purchase the newspaper from Tribune Company. At the time, analysts questioned why Cablevision, which had no experience running newspapers, would want to buy Newsday.

But in Thursday’s memo, Patrick Dolan said his family had “been thrilled to be associated with this incredible newspaper.”