Cablevision Systems Corp. on Tuesday said its third-quarter profit more than tripled as a sluggish economy didn't deter subscribers from signing up for its digital cable, Internet and phone plans in the face of aggressive competition from Verizon's fiber-optic FiOS TV service.

The cable TV operator's Madison Square Garden group, which had been a drag on earnings, made a profit on strong season ticket sales for the New York Knicks basketball team and Rangers hockey team as costs for the group fell. But its Newsday paper lost money, a situation Cablevision hopes to reverse with its move begun last week to charge some customers for online access.

Shares of Cablevision rose 75 cents, or 3.2 percent, to close Tuesday at $24.02.

Cablevision earned $98.9 million, or 33 cents per share, for the period ended Sept. 30. That's up from $30.9 million, or 10 cents per share, a year ago.

Revenue grew 5 percent to $1.84 billion from $1.75 billion in what is typically the slowest quarter of the year for Cablevision, helped by higher cable TV rates.

The results beat the expectations of analysts polled by Thomson Reuters, who forecast profit of 26 cents per share on revenue of $1.82 billion. Analysts' estimates typically exclude one-time items.

Cablevision reported revenue growth of 4.9 percent for its telecommunications services division, which includes cable TV, phone and Internet services.

The number of new digital cable TV customers rose by 2.6 percent from last year, while basic cable TV subscribers fell 1.5 percent. Customers spent an average of $141.03 per month, or 6 percent more than a year ago.

Cablevision signed up 4 percent more new Internet customers and 10 percent more new phone customers. Total phone customers surpassed 2 million for the first time.

Verizon's entry into the New York metro area with FiOS TV hasn't hurt Cablevision yet. FiOS is offered in 36 percent of Cablevision's market, but the expansion has slowed.

"It is expanding less rapidly than it has in prior years ... and therefore their overall competitive impact is somewhat less," Tom Rutledge, Cablevision's chief operating officer, said during a conference call with analysts. Continued...