Tribune

Tribune Newspapers to Go Without AP for a Week

Authored by Mark Hefflinger on November 4, 2009 - 8:54am.
Baltimore - The Baltimore Sun and eight other daily newspapers owned by Chicago-based Tribune plan to publish next week without using articles or photos from the Associated Press (AP), an experiment to see how difficult it would be to possibly sever ties with the international wire service, The Chicago Tribune reported.

Tribune Folds Zap2It TV Listings Operations Into LATimes.com

Authored by Mark Hefflinger on February 6, 2009 - 8:06am.
Chicago - Publisher and broadcaster Tribune announced on Friday that it will combine the operations of its Zap2It entertainment listings service with the entertainment news division at its Los Angeles Times. Zap2It, which counts an audience of 4 million unique monthly visitors, will remain a standalone site. Leading the new operation will be LATimes.com entertainment editor Richard Rushfield and executive producer Joseph Kapsch. The combined operation is expected to draw a monthly online audience of 9 million unique visitors and 65 million page views.

Newspaper Publisher Tribune Files for Bankruptcy

Authored by Mark Hefflinger on December 8, 2008 - 9:08am.

Chicago - Tribune, the publisher of eight major daily newspapers, including the Los Angeles Times and Chicago Tribune, on Monday became the first major newspaper publisher to file for Chapter 11 Bankruptcy protection, the Associated Press reported. Tribune, which signaled the move in recent days by hiring Lazard as its financial advisor and law firm Sidley Austin as its special legal counsel, listed $13 billion in debt, and just $7.6 billion in assets.

Metromix Local Entertainment Sites Double Revenue, Traffic

Authored by Mark Hefflinger on November 18, 2008 - 1:03pm.

Chicago - Metromix, the online entertainment listings and reviews sites network joint venture between publishers Gannett (NYSE: GCI) and Tribune (NYSE: TXA), reported on Tuesday that it has doubled its revenue and Web traffic since its launch in October 2007. The Metromix sites in 35 markets attracted nearly 4 million unique visitors in October, according to Omniture internal tracking software analysis.

Tribune Gives Notice to Drop Associated Press Content

Authored by Mark Hefflinger on October 17, 2008 - 9:38am.

Chicago - Tribune (NYSE: TXA), the Chicago-based newspaper publisher that owns The Baltimore Sun, Los Angeles Times and Chicago Tribune, has become the first major newspaper chain to give notice that it will drop the Associated Press wire service, Editor & Publisher reported.

Report: Tribune Pondering Sale of Tribune Media Services Units

Authored by Mark Hefflinger on May 29, 2008 - 9:50am.

Chicago - Media conglomerate Tribune (NYSE: TXA) is pondering a sale of its Tribune Media Services businesses, which provide online TV listings and also produce and aggregate news and entertainment content, the Chicago Tribune reported. At least two suitors have expressed interest in the TV listings businesses, sources with knowledge of discussions told the Tribune.

Cablevision to Acquire Newsday for $650 Million

Authored by Mark Hefflinger on May 12, 2008 - 7:40am.

Bethpage, N.Y. - Cablevision (NYSE: CVC), a provider of cable TV and broadband services in the New York area, announced on Monday that it will acquire a 97% stake in Newsday Media Group from media company Tribune (NYSE: TXA) for $650 million. Tribune will retain a 3% stake in the company. Cablevision's winning bid beat out other suitors that included News Corp. (NYSE: NWS), which withdrew its $580 million bid on Saturday, and New York Daily News owner Mort Zuckerman.

Major Newspaper Publishers Team on Online Ad Network

Authored by Mark Hefflinger on February 15, 2008 - 8:14am.

McLean, Va. - Attempting to boost their sagging ad revenue, four of the nation's largest newspaper publishers -- including Gannett (NYSE: GCI), Tribune (NYSE: TXA), Hearst and The New York Times Co. (NYSE: NYT) -- said on Friday that they will team to launch their own online ad sales network. The network, called quadrantONE, will work in a similar fashion to a networks launched last year by Yahoo and a group of newspapers, allowing national advertisers to buy space on more than 120 newspaper websites.

Report: New York Times to Cut 100 Newsroom Jobs

Authored by Mark Hefflinger on February 14, 2008 - 10:37am.

New York - The New York Times has announced to editorial employees that it will cut 100 jobs from the company's newsroom this year, the Associated Press reported on Thursday.

Gannett, Tribune Look to Form Web Newspaper Ad Network

Authored by Mark Hefflinger on November 7, 2007 - 9:49am.

New York - Newspaper publishers Gannett (NYSE: CGI) and Tribune (NYSE: TRB) are in talks with three other publishers -- who are currently in a similar deal with Yahoo (NASD: YHOO) -- on creating a national online advertising network, Reuters reported, citing sources involved in the discussions.

Analysis: Newspapers Should Embrace Online Aggregators

Authored by Scott Karp on June 18, 2007 - 8:58am.

Many newspaper executives, most infamously Tribune acquirer Sam Zell, have made an enemy out of Google and other online aggregators who disintermediate newspapers and all other traditional media. This is of course a wrongheaded way to think about content on the Web, since these aggregators drive a significant amount of traffic to newspapers. But the real fear inherent in the distrust of aggregators is that they are destroying the direct brand relationships that newspapers and other branded media have traditionally had with their audience.

TV Station Groups Form Open Mobile Video Coalition

Authored by Mark Hefflinger on April 17, 2007 - 3:18pm.

Las Vegas - Nine major broadcast TV station groups have formed a coalition aimed at speeding the development of mobile digital TV.

Tribune Accepts Sam Zell's $8.2 Billion Takeover Offer

Authored by Mark Hefflinger on April 2, 2007 - 3:13pm.

Chicago - Media firm Tribune on Monday ended months of speculation about its future by accepting an $8.2 billion takeover offer from real estate mogul Sam Zell, the chairman of Equity Group Investments.

Report: Tribune Pondering $8 Billion Takeover Bid

Authored by Mark Hefflinger on March 28, 2007 - 12:31pm.

Baltimore - Tribune, the Chicago-based media company that owns a variety of newspapers and TV stations, could be sold by the end of the week, Bloomberg News reported.

Gannett to Acquire Conn. Newspaper Group for $73 Million

Authored by Mark Hefflinger on March 6, 2007 - 12:50pm.

McLean, Va. - Gannett, the publisher of USA Today and 89 other daily newspapers, said on Tuesday that it will pay $73 million to acquire certain assets of Southern Connecticut Newspapers Inc. (SCNI) from rival publisher Tribune.

Tribune Taps VMix for User-Generated Content on Newspaper Sites

Authored by Mark Hefflinger on January 29, 2007 - 2:36pm.

San Diego - User-generated video community and technology provider VMix announced on Monday that it has partnered with Tribune Interactive, to provide the company's newspaper websites with technology to manage user-generated videos, photos, blogs, ratings and polls. San Diego-based VMix will power user-generated content on websites for Tribune properties including the Los Angeles Times, Chicago Tribune and Baltimore Sun.

More Reverberations on Ad Network Planned by Newspaper Giants

Authored by Peter Krasilovsky on January 12, 2007 - 12:35pm.
There’s been more industry feedback on the “Open Network” for national advertising that Gannett, McClatchy and Tribune (GMT) have proposed to launch for the newspaper industry. The first question is: who leaked it to reporter Julia Angwin and why? There is some feeling that the leak didn’t come from GMT, and in fact, probably came from some other party that wanted to sabotage the network before it really got started.

Angwin got a great scoop, and wrote a great piece, but I wonder whether her suggestion that Gannett Digital Media head Jack Williams was thinking in terms of illegal antitrust collusion was really warranted. The article states:

Gannett to Team with Publishing Rivals to Sell Online Ads

Authored by Mark Hefflinger on January 10, 2007 - 10:17am.

McLean, Va. - Hoping to fight declining circulation and revenue, three major newspaper publishers, Gannett, McClatchy and Tribune, plan to jointly begin selling display ads for their Internet sites, The Wall Street Journal reported on Wednesday.

Tribune Co. Extends Timeframe to Sell Assets

Authored by Mark Hefflinger on November 29, 2006 - 2:28pm.
Chicago - Tribune Co., the Chicago-based owner of newspapers and TV stations, said that it has extended its timeframe to sell either its whole company or individual assets to the first quarter of next year.

Gannett Reportedly Exploring Bid for Tribune Assets

Authored by Mark Hefflinger on November 13, 2006 - 2:29pm.
McLean, Va. - Executives from Gannett, the publisher of USA Today and 89 other daily newspapers, reportedly met with counterparts from Tribune last week about possibly acquiring all or part of the newspaper publisher's assets.