A Los Angeles billionaire has joined the bid of a cable industry veteran to buy the Los Angeles Dodgers, the Los Angeles Times reports.

The cable veteran is Leo Hindery, who at one time worked directly under John Malone in running Tele-Communications Inc., the nation’s largest cable operator. He later was the CEO of YES, the Yankees’ cable channel.

Reports the Times, "Tom Barrack has partnered with Leo Hindery on a bid for the Dodgers, bringing together a prominent Los Angeles billionaire with the founder of the New York Yankees’ cable channel. … Hindery and fellow New York financier Marc Utay lead one of at least eight groups that survived Friday’s first cut among the bidders. That group had been one of the two prospective buyers known to remain in the bidding without a significant tie to Los Angeles."

The article also says, "Barrack heads Colony Capital, a Santa Monica firm that controls $29 billion in assets. Colony enhanced the financial fortunes of Japan’s Fukuoka Softbank Hawks in part by renovating a hotel and shopping center surrounding their ballpark. Colony also holds an ownership stake in the French soccer club Paris Saint-Germain and controls Miramax Films."

The article also notes, "The Dodgers’ new owner can launch a team-owned television channel, as Hindery built for the Yankees. The Dodgers are scheduled to receive $39 million from Fox Sports next year, the last under the team’s current TV contract. The Dodgers could double or triple their annual revenue under a new deal with Fox Sports or Time Warner Cable, but they could try to generate more money by building a team-owned channel."

Before joining TCI, Hindery, 64, a graduate of the Stanford Business School, ran the nation’s 13th largest MSO, InterMedia Partners. Prior to that he managed the cable properties owned by the Chronicle Publishing Company (which also owned the San Francisco Chronicle Newspaper and TV station KRON at the time).