Cablevision Begins To Shop Clearview Cinemas Chain

The exhibition chain has 45 theaters with 230 screens in the tri-state area around New York City, and includes Manhattan's famed Ziegfield Theater. But 'it is not a strategic asset for us,' Cablevision CFO Gregg Siebert told analysts this morning. 'Clearview is not core by any stretch of the imagination.' He says that Cablevision expects to have a 'robust process' as it explores strategic options ' typically the code word for putting a property up for sale. 'There are others who can do more with that asset.' But he added that the company is 'still in the early stages' of the process. The cable company bought Clearview in 1998. But Cablevision has other fish to fry now as it struggles to grow in the face of tough competition from Verizon and AT&T for video, broadband, and phone customers.