The Tribune corporation saw a new board made up of entertainment industry executives with no news experience. Between that and the likely future CEO Peter Liguori (veteran of Fox and Discovery), it is expected that ownership will push the company to focus on its 23 TV stations.
Tribune’s daily newspapers are valued now at an estimated $623 million, diminished from their pre-recession price and before the actions of former owner Sam Zell. LA Times saw an offer by David Geffen for $2 billion in 2006, now it will fetch much less if it comes on the market.
Orange County Register owner Aaron Kushner indicated both interest and means to purchase the Tribune papers. “We clearly have the means and the team by which to look seriously at the Tribune papers and, from the outside, they may very well have enough of the elements that we’re looking for,” he told reporters.
“The only reason the company was in play for Zell to pick up was that the heirs of the once-mighty Times Mirror empire, welcomed into the Tribune Co. boardroom with the deal, sought to cash out,” writes Chicago Tribune’s Phil Rosenthal. “Zell and his management team, however, did little to deliver on promises of unlocking value through a more intelligent corporate structure and other strategies. Combined with the huge debt their acquisition piled on, the company’s slide only accelerated.”
Source: LAobserved.com
