Fate of Tribune May Rest With Television Business

FATE OF TRIBUNE MAY REST WITH TELEVISION BUSINESS
[SOURCE: Wall Street Journal, AUTHOR: Sarah Ellison sarah.ellison@wsj.com and Brooks Barnes]
Tribune may be best known as a newspaper publisher, but its television business could hold the key to its future. All of the offers submitted for Tribune last week hinge on the value of the company's 23 TV stations, which account for about one-third of the company's profits. Industry executives note that while Tribune's newspapers, which include the Los Angeles Times and Chicago Tribune, have relatively high profit margins, the TV stations lag behind some competitors. After reviewing the offers in a meeting with its advisers Saturday, the special committee of Tribune's board that is overseeing the auction appeared to lean towards taking action on its own. Tribune could borrow money to pay a big dividend to shareholders and then explore a spinoff or sale of its TV stations. A person familiar with the process said that the company also was exploring how to use the McCormick Tribune Foundation, a charitable foundation controlled by Tribune's management, in any possible transaction. Tribune is looking at how a "self-help" option stacks up to proposals from bidders such as Los Angeles businesspeople Ron Burkle and Eli Broad, who propose a recapitalization that would give them effective control. The pair, who traveled to Chicago to personally pitch their proposal to the special committee Saturday, suggest taking on a heavy debt load to fund a $27-a-share dividend payout to shareholders. The pair see the TV stations as offering the most obvious opportunity for increasing profits.
http://online.wsj.com/article/SB116943529015883356.html?mod=todays_us_ma...
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* Tribune Co. May Reject Outside Bids
http://www.nytimes.com/2007/01/22/business/media/22tribune.html
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SO WHO ARE THESE CHANDLERS WHO WANT TO RECLAIM 'LA TIMES'?
[SOURCE: Associated Press]
Seven years after selling Times Mirror Co., owner of the Los Angeles Times, the Chandler family might get it back as part of a shrewd bid that could give it control of the entire Tribune Co. for less than the selling price of one of the nation's most acclaimed newspaper companies. Already Tribune's largest shareholder, the family has offered to buy the media titan and spin-off its broadcast division in a deal valued at $7.6 billion. In 2000, the Chandlers sold Times Mirror to Tribune for $8 billion, including debt. The current bid reflects the changing strategy of the family that built Times Mirror and helped shape Southern California while weathering its share of internal disputes.
http://www.editorandpublisher.com/eandp/news/article_display.jsp?vnu_con...