Tough time for Tribune stations auction

Tribune Company is finally nearing the finish line of its bankruptcy proceedings, one of the longest and most contentious for a media company, and now industry players are wondering where that leaves its 23 TV stations.

Chatter about potential bidders for the Tribune Broadcasting group is mounting amid speculation that Tribune's post-bankruptcy owners -- a clutch of its major debtholders -- will look to sell off the company's newspaper and TV assets, probably in piecemeal fashion. Sources close to the situation caution that the post-bankruptcy plans are still very much in flux as they clear the last hurdles of getting a judge to approve the hard-fought restructuring plan. Tribune Broadcasting's fate is being closely watched by Hollywood because the stations are big spenders in the syndication sales that fuel studio profits. Industry insiders believe that sales of Tribune's newspapers, which include the Los Angeles Times, Chicago Tribune and Baltimore Sun, are a given. But sources note that the new regime may look to hang on to the station group, at least in the short term, as it is the most profitable unit of Tribune. And one of the debtholders poised to emerge with a chunk of equity in Tribune, Oaktree Capital, already has investments in broadcast stations in partnership with Tribune. The stations have been valued in the bankruptcy proceedings at about $3 billion. If some or all of the outlets wind up on the auction block, the timing is less than ideal, as prices have come way down in recent transactions. And the list of likely suitors for Tribune's stations is limited by a number of factors.