The people working at Cablevision's News 12 outlets are wondering about their future after the company sold out to French company Altice.

Altice is a European telecommunications giant and has offered up $17.7 million for Cablevision.

If the deal is approved, it would make Altice’s expanded American operations among the largest cable operators in the United States, behind Comcast, Time Warner Cable, Charter Communications and Cox Communications.

But many inside News 12 have no clue what that means for them. It is quite possible that Altice could come in and shutdown or consolidate the News 12 stations.

The Dolan family sent out this internal email to the staff and obtained by FTVLive about the sale, but it is doing nothing to calm the nerves of those in the newsrooms. 

TO: All Employees

FROM: Charles Dolan and James Dolan

DATE: September 17, 2015

RE: The Sale of Cablevision to Altice ______________________________________________________________________

Since founding Cablevision in 1973, the Dolan family has been honored to work with you through the most extraordinary communications revolution in modern history. Now, nearly half a century later, the time is right for new ownership of Cablevision.

As you now know, Wednesday night, the company entered into an agreement to sell Cablevision to Altice. This means that, following necessary regulatory approvals in the coming months, Cablevision will become a subsidiary of Altice. The attached press releases includes additional details about the transaction.

Let us share some information about Altice.

Altice Chairman Patrick Drahi is no stranger to the media and telecommunications industry. A well-regarded entrepreneur and executive, Patrick founded Altice in 2002, and since then has transformed Altice into a multinational telecommunications company. Today, Altice provides cable, internet, phone and mobile services in France, Israel, Belgium & Luxembourg, Portugal, French West Indies / Indian Ocean Area and Dominican Republic, and Switzerland. Altice CEO Dexter Goei, an American citizen, joined the company in 2009 and brings a wealth of experience in finance across all segments of the telecom and media industry in the U.S. and EMEA region covering primarily cable, pay TV, broadcasting, Internet, etc.

Under Patrick’s leadership, Altice has grown through acquisitions, including the most recent announcement that it entered the U.S. market with the purchase of the 7th largest U.S. cable operator, Suddenlink. Altice has never sold any assets (except in an occasional case of government required remedy) and instead, has been focused on growing and investing in the infrastructure and businesses with a long-term view.

During the past few weeks, we have come to know Patrick, Dexter and other members of the Altice team well and are impressed with their vision. These two dynamic leaders are driven by innovation and ingenuity, and maintain a keen focus on the customer and the overall service experience. We believe that they are highly worthy successors to our family as the owners of Cablevision, and we think the company is in an excellent position to move forward.

We have spent more than 40 great years together and you should all be very proud to have built and operated a company that has led the industry and has had a remarkable record of success. Cablevision has been truly a part of the many communities we have served and you are largely responsible for that legacy.

We understand that you will have many questions in the coming days and months and we will do our best to answer them as information becomes available. As this can be a lengthy and complex process, we may not be able to answer your questions immediately; however, we remain committed to keeping our employees informed of our progress as information becomes available. In the meantime, we ask that you remain focused on your day-to-day responsibilities and that you continue to deliver the superior products and services that our customers have come to expect from Cablevision.

It has been an honor to work together and your loyalty and dedication to your colleagues and customers has been inspiring. As we look back over nearly half a century, we offer you all the profound gratitude of the Dolan family.