In a surprise move, the Dolan family will up the bid that their company, Cablevision, will make for Newsday, reports the Times. They had dropped out of bidding for the financially troubled newspaper last month, but recently discovered that some of its printing and shipping operations were running at low efficiency. This indicated that the newspaper, with a little streamlining, could actually be worth much more than estimated. Mort Zuckerman, owner of the Daily News, and News Corp., owners of the Post, already had matching bids in place for $580 million. Cablevision's upped offer will be $650 million, putting the company $70 million ahead of its competitors. (Murdoch and Newsday were said last week to be inches from clinching the deal.) Jared Kushner, owner of the Observer, had attempted to join with Cablevision for a joint deal previously, but was rebuffed. He has since dropped out of bidding.

Can it really be? Can a newspaper really be slipping out of Rupert's giant, soft grip? We'd be terrified to face the wrath of the media baron. But, then again, Jimmy Dolan willfully incurred the wrath of the entire city of New York by letting Isiah Thomas ruin the Knicks, so clearly he's not afraid of anything.

Cablevision Set to Raise the Stakes in Newsday Bidding [NYT]
Related: James Dolan and Mort Zuckerman Join Murdoch in Scramble for ‘Newsday’