News Corp decided that it doesn't make sense to meet or exceed a competing bid for Tribune Co.'s Newsday and has renounced its buyout offer. Cablevision Systems Corp. offered $650 million, compared to News Corp.'s $580 million offer.

The spokesperson said the move of buying had become "uneconomical." Murdoch’s decision leaves the road wide open for Cablevision Systems Corp to acquire Newsday, a daily Pulitzer Prize winning newspaper that mainly serves Long Island and the New York City borough of Queens, although it is sold throughout the New York City metropolitan area.

"I don't think Cablevision will prevail," Murdoch said in a conference call Wednesday with reporters and Wall Street analysts. "Just be patient for a couple of days, will you? We're certainly not in the business of getting into an auction here," Murdoch said, quoted by LA Times.

Newsday was founded in 1940 by Alicia Patterson, with backing from her husband, Harry Guggenheim. Guggenheim, after inheriting it, has sold the paper to the Times Mirror Co., owner of the Los Angeles Times, in 1971. Times Mirror merged with the Tribune Company in 2000, which led to Newsday being owned by the now-bigger Tribune Co. The newspaper is currently ranked 10th in terms of newspaper circulation in the United States.

Cablevision Systems Corp is the 5th largest cable provider in the USA, headquartered in Bethpage, New York. The bulk of its customers are residing in New York, New Jersey, Connecticut, and parts of Pennsylvania. This means that the company's current cable and Internet coverage somewhat overlaps that of Newsday, which primarily serves the New York City metropolitan area.

While the Cablevision offer is $70 million higher, there is a catch. Cablevision is also bidding for the real estate occupied by Newsday, while Murdoch and Zuckerman, the third bidder who matched Murdoch's $580 million offer, had agreed to let Tribune continue to own it. This significantly reduces the gap between the Cablevision offer and the other two, but it is still a better bid.

Cablevision Systems Corp announced on Wednesday its plans to purchase Sundance Channel for a total of $496 million. Sundance Channel is currently owned by General Electric Co's NBC Universal, CBS Corp's Showtime Networks and entities controlled by Robert Redford.

Cablevision Systems Corp will acquire the channel through a tax-free exchange of approximately 12.7 million shares of GE common stock from Cablevision's Rainbow Media unit with a cash adjustment at closing based on the value of the GE shares in relation to the total purchase price.