Cablevision may have won the battle for Newsday, but it wasn't the only winner. Monday morning's announcement that Cablevision Systems Corp. had reached a definitive agreement to acquire a 97% stake in the Long Island newspaper for $650 million—and thus had outbid the onetime frontrunner, News Corp. Chairman Rupert Murdoch—sent a wave of relief through the Newsday newsroom. "People were nervous," said a staffer, referring to Mr. Murdoch's penchant for aggressively remaking newspapers he owns, like the Wall Street Journal and the New York Post. Just last Wednesday, Mr. Murdoch told analysts that he expected to prevail in his bid for the paper and to "just be patient for a few days. " But he refused to raise his $580 million offer in the face of Cablevision's higher bid. News Corp also faced regulatory hurdles because, in addition to the Post and the Journal, it owns two local television stations.