Liberty’s Malone Explains Decision

John Malone, chairman of Liberty Media Corp., said Monday that he joined the board of Cablevision Systems Corp. this month because Cablevision Chairman Charles Dolan had “been a friend for 40 years.”

“It seemed like I might be helpful to him in settling things down,” Malone said during a Liberty Media International Inc. conference call.

Dolan on March 2 ousted three Cablevision directors who opposed his plans for the Voom satellite-television business and named Malone and three others to the company’s board. Bethpage, N.Y.-based Cablevision is the largest cable TV operator in that region.

Malone said he had refused past invitations to invest in a third satellite-TV business in the U.S. to compete with DirecTV Group Inc. and EchoStar Communications Corp. because the risks outweighed the rewards.

“I wouldn’t do it with my money,” Malone said of Dolan’s satellite-TV business. Malone is chairman and chief executive of Liberty Media International, which reported fourth-quarter results Monday.

Shares of Cablevision rose 56 cents to $29.35 on the New York Stock Exchange. They have gained 33% since Dec. 20, the day before the company canceled a planned spinoff of Voom.

Dolan has until March 31 to buy Voom’s assets from the company. Dolan last week said he planned to use $10 million of his own cash and Cablevision stock that his family owns to fund the money-losing Voom service until the end of the month.

Cablevision’s board backed off an earlier decision to shut down the Voom service. The company in January agreed to sell Voom’s main satellite to EchoStar, the second-biggest U.S. satellite-TV operator.

The board had said it would shut down Voom after Dolan failed to reach an agreement to buy the remaining assets by Feb. 28. Dolan named the new directors, including former Viacom Inc. Chief Executive Frank Biondi, two days later.

Liberty Media International, a broadband services company, said Monday that its fourth-quarter loss widened to $21.1 million from $5.46 million a year earlier. Revenue rose to $778 million from $28 million as it consolidated sales from cable TV operator UnitedGlobalCom, in which Liberty took a controlling stake last year.