Only two days after Wall Street analyst Alan Bezoza of Friedman Billings Ramsey Group Inc. praised the planned shuttering of Cablevision Systems Corp.'s money-bleeding satellite service, Voom, he had to qualify his enthusiasm.
That followed the news that Cablevision Chairman Chuck Dolan, who had been trying to keep the service alive, had replaced three directors who had voted to sell off Voom! with heavyweights Frank Biondi, John Malone and Leonard Tow, added a fourth ally to an open seat and planned to add a fifth at a board meeting March 7. That would give Dolan control of the board, said Bezoza, though he predicted the board would still ultimately decide in the best interests of the company.
"We remain optimistic regarding the core cable and media businesses but feel that Mr. Dolan's move to consolidate power adds considerable risk to our thesis," Bezoza advised clients.
