Cablevision to Unload Peripheral Cable Systems

Cablevision Systems Corp. is considering a plan to sell some of its peripheral cable systems to focus on its markets in New York, Boston and Cleveland, analysts said.

The systems, which represent about 475,000 subscribers in states including Maine and Michigan, could fetch $850 million to $1 billion, analysts said. Cablevision, the nation’s sixth-largest cable operator, has about 2.8 million subscribers in 19 states.

The Woodbury, N.Y.-based company plans to use proceeds of the sale to help pay down its $2.9 billion of debt, analysts said they were told in a conference call with the company.

“This is just another step in them realizing [that] if we don’t get lean and mean now, we’ll get hammered at some point,” said analyst Stevyn Schutzman at Salomon Bros. Inc.