Dolans Drop Cablevision Deal

The Dolan family has withdrawn its $7.9 billion bid to take Cablevision Systems private, saying it couldn't reach an agreement with the board on the specific terms of the deal.

In a letter to the board sent Monday, the Dolan family, which owns 20% of the company's equity, recommended that the board declare a $3 billion special cash dividend. In June, the Dolans offered to take the cable company private to keep its metro New York cable systems and spin the Rainbow Media cable networks back off to the public.