Cablevision not interested in Newsday: source

NEW YORK (Reuters) - Cable television operator Cablevision Systems Corp (CVC.N: Quote, Profile, Research, Stock Buzz) is not interested in buying Newsday from the Tribune Company, contrary to press reports, a person familiar with the matter told Reuters on Wednesday.

Separately, New York Daily News owner Mortimer Zuckerman, has made a bid for the Long Island daily newspaper, according to another source familiar with the matter. Details of the bid were not immediately available.

Newsday, currently owned by Tribune, is in talks with News Corp's (NWSa.N: Quote, Profile, Research, Stock Buzz) Rupert Murdoch for a sale or a joint venture, sources have previously told Reuters.

One source close to News Corp said on Wednesday those talks continue.

Several media outlets have said James Dolan, whose family controls Cablevision, is interested in acquiring the paper but that is not true, the person familiar with the matter told Reuters.

Murdoch publicly said last week Newsday would be a good fit with the company's New York Post, but a deal could face hurdles with regulators because it could run afoul of U.S. media ownership regulations.

A Tribune spokesman declined to comment.

Real estate tycoon Sam Zell took Tribune private last year in an $8.2 billion leveraged buyout that restructured the publisher of the Los Angeles Times as an employee-owned company, saddling it with more than $10 billion in debt.

Many industry experts have said they see no option for the company to avoid default except for unloading assets to pay down its debt.