Marianne Paskowski

CBS and NBC, once thought to be the lead dogs to acquire the Weather Channel from Landmark Communications, priced at a steep $5 billion, probably are out of the race now.

At least I think so. Just this week, after his $1.8 billion acquisition of CNET Networks, CBS czar Les Moonves said there were no other large acquisitions ahead for the company.

Then General Electric, the parent company of NBC, confirmed its appliance division was on the block. GE honcho Jeffrey Immelt hopes it will fetch $5 billion to $8 billion.

The 100-year-old appliance division, a mere sliver of the company, is probably one of several divisions that are likely to go on the auction block, say Wall Street analysts. GE is suffering from severe cash flow problems. That doesn’t bode well for the Weather Channel.

So that leaves Comcast, the multiple-system operator that desperately needs a strong network to buoy its sorry stable of cable networks.

Also still in the race is Time Warner. And that’s my horse in this race.

That because Time Warner owns the Turner networks. And according to one of my sources, Turner has tried many times to buy the Weather Channel, for a much lower price, because it would complement CNN perfectly.

Also the Turner networks are based in Atlanta, as is the Weather Channel and its seasoned forecasters.

So who’s your horse in this race?

Wall Street analysts remain baffled over Cablevision System Corp.’s $650 million purchase of Newsday Media Group from Tribune Co. earlier this week.

They’re asking what does a cable multiple system operator know about the challenging, if not daunting, task of running a profitable newspaper in these times? Most newspapers are not profitable.

Then analysts ask why Cablevision is on a shopping spree. Remember, a week earlier the MSO acquired the Sundance Channel for roughly $500 million.

CNBC’s “Fast Money” team thought Cablevision is not treating shareholders fairly. The Dolan family, owners of Cablevision, have all of the voting shares.

One frustrated analyst said the real play here is for Cablevision to spend money, drive the stock down and once again try to take the company private, something it has attempted to do several times before.

Do you buy that conspiracy theory? I do not.

When I first heard that the NBC Universal owned-and-operated station WNBC-TV in New York was launching a 24-hour local news channel this fall, I thought it was a great idea.

Now I’m having second thoughts. For starters, the new cable channel might maim the local broadcast news, which is already hurting big time.

And let’s get real. WNBC is more than a decade late in getting into the hyper-news game.

For years Time Warner Cable has won big audiences for its NY1 24-hour local news service. It’s an excellent service, especially for straphangers who want to learn which subways are down.

In outlying suburban communities in New York, New Jersey and Connecticut, Cablevision Systems has pretty much cornered the local news arena with its popular News 12 channel. Actually it has three local channels devoted to weather, traffic and news. It works just fine.

Here is one upside: Viewers in other areas of New Jersey that have Comcast Cable as their provider are about the only viewers who will benefit, because the nation’s largest MSO doesn’t provide a hyper-local news service for that market.

And here’s another sliver of hope. Maybe the NBC all-news channel will get some ratings with viewers who have satellite TV service, or Verizon’s FiOS.

But that’s about the extent of the upswing I see for this new offering from NBCU.

Am I missing something here?

As if things weren’t bad enough for NBC, the broadcast net that has the broadcast rights to the Beijing Summer Olympics starting Aug. 8, now China is experiencing an outbreak of a potentially fatal hand, foot and mouth virus.

In recent weeks Chinese officials reported 15,799 cases of the virus, which has killed 28 children so far. I really wonder why the International Olympics Committee chose this site.

The IOC had to know early on. After all, this hand, foot and mouth virus is nothing new. Last year there were 80,000 reported cases of the disease that resulted in 17 deaths in China.

So what’s next? First there was the bad air issue that led several athletes to say they would sit out the competition. The unrest in Tibet continues. The Olympic torch ceremonies were met with protest around the world.

A plague of locusts next? This blogger would not be surprised.