Rainbow Media Group, the programming unit of the Cablevision Systems Corp., "has been put up for sale," according to execs "close to the company" cited by Andrew Ross Sorkin of the N.Y. TIMES. Execs said that Rainbow, which operates the MSG Network, "was put up for auction by Cablevision last week following the board's decision to sell the company." Cablevision "hopes that Rainbow will be sold for as much as" $5B. Sorkin wrote that Cablevision has "contacted" USA Networks, Comcast, Liberty Media Group and NBC, which owns 26% of Rainbow, as "potential buyers." The companies "have been told they must submit their bid" by January 16 (N.Y. TIMES, 1/2). NEWSDAY's Harry Berkowitz reports any sale of Rainbow's holdings "would not include" MSG, MSG Network, the Knicks, Rangers or Fox Sports N.Y., all of which "fit in with Cablevision's strategy to focus" on the NY area. Merrill Lynch cable analyst Jessica Reif Cohen speculated that News Corp., Cablevision's partner in a group of RSNs, and FSN "might buy out Cablevision's stake in those holdings but not the entertainment channels." Cohen said that Cablevision's stake in those sports media holdings "might fetch" $1.4B (NEWSDAY, 1/3).
