King Lear? Soap Opera? Pride of Chucky? The Drs are In?

There should be no doubt: the dramatic center of the cable universe is Bethpage, NY, particularly in Cablevision’s boardroom. In a trend that’s doing nothing to improve the home life of trade hacks, board chmn Chuck Dolan again issued a late-night press release, this time to report the addition of legendary heavies to CVC’s board, including Dr John Malone, former Viacom CEO Frank Biondi, Dr Leonard Tow (most recently of Adelphia fame) and former ITT corp CEO Rand Araskog. The moves could mean Chuck’s girding for a showdown with Jimmy or it could be a routine replacement of board members: the retiring William Bell and Sheila Mahony, the deceased John Tatta and Steve Rattner, whose reason for departure was not given. (But, cmon, is anything routine these days at CVC?) Want more? OK, another juicy morsel: at Mon’s board meeting the group will be asked to increase its size to allow the election of Brian Sweeney, a CVC svp who also happens to be Chuck’s son-in-law. The new board members are expected to serve until the next annual meeting May 19, and then to be re-nominated, the release said. Any questions?