That crazy, Oedipal media-mogul family, the Dolans of Long Island, seems determined to take Cablevision private. For the second time in sixteen months, chairman Charles and his CEO son, Jim, are offering their shareholders a buyout, this time upping their offer to $27 a share. (Shares in Cablevision — which includes not just the cable company but also trophy properties like Madison Square Garden, Radio City Music Hall, and the Knicks and Rangers — rose on the news.)

We at Daily Intel don't claim to be financial experts. But we're not bad at reading between the lines of a public statement. "We continue to feel that succeeding in this fiercely competitive environment requires a long-term, entrepreneurial management perspective that is not constrained by the public markets' constant focus on short-term results," the Dolans said, and it seems likely that this buyout is the senior Dolan's bid to keep sinking money into his pet satellite venture, Voom, which has already lost over $600 million and whose launch almost tore the family apart — as chronicled by Joel Siegel a year and a half ago in a March 2005 feature for New York.

Sadly for the Dolans, though, this long-term investment strategy might be a boon only to Charles's Voom. As for Jim's pet project — throwing maximum money at the Knicks with no discernible positive effect — we have a feeling fans will always retain their constant focus on short-term results.

Oedipus at the Garden [NYM]
Dolans Try New Bid to Take Cablevision Private [NYT]