The New York Post reports that cable TV titan John Malone, who was rumored to be considering an acquisition of Cablevision's Voom satellite TV unit, is no longer interested. In a conference call with investors, Malone distanced himself from Voom: "I wouldn't do it with my money. We were offered on a number of occasions an opportunity to participate in a third satellite competitor and we declined because we didn't think the risks were warrented by the potential returns."

Considering that Malone was "handpicked" by Dolan to sit on Cablevision's board, the negative comments about Voom are somewhat surprising. Or is it just a clever negotiating tactic to talk down the value of Voom so that Malone can swoop in and buy the company at a sharp discount?