The feud between Cablevision Systems Corp. chairman Charles Dolan and his son, CEO James Dolan, may be beginning to cool off.
In an amended “13D” Securities and Exchange Commission filing last Tuesday, Charles Dolan said he is no longer seeking to elect 75% of Cablevision's board of directors at its next annual shareholders' meeting, nor is he seeking to have the company reduce the total number of board member to 12 from 15.
The elder Dolan first indicated that he would seek to elect three-quarters of the board March 31, at the height of his public battle with son James over the fate of the struggling Voom HD direct-broadcast satellite service.
Earlier in March, Charles Dolan ousted three directors who had voted against him to scuttle Voom — retired MSO vice chairman William Bell, retired executive vice president of communications and government affairs Sheila Mahony and Quadrangle Group LLC managing partner Steve Rattner — and filled a spot left open by the recent death of John Tatta.
The elder Dolan filled those board seats with cable-industry icons Liberty Media Corp. chairman John Malone, former Viacom Inc. CEO Frank Biondi, former Century Communications Corp. CEO Leonard Tow and former ITT Corp. chairman Rand Araskog.
Since then, the Dolans have agreed to shutter Voom, which was slated to go dark April 30.
