Tribune Media Company, also known as Tribune Company, was an American multimedia

conglomerate Conglomerate or conglomeration may refer to: * Conglomerate (company) * Conglomerate (geology) * Conglomerate (mathematics) In popular culture: * The Conglomerate (American group), a production crew and musical group founded by Busta Rhymes ** Co ...

headquartered in Chicago, Illinois. Through Tribune Broadcasting, Tribune Media was one of the largest television broadcasting companies, owning 39 television stations across the United States and operating three additional stations through

local marketing agreement In North American broadcasting, a local marketing agreement (LMA), or local management agreement, is a contract in which one company agrees to operate a radio or television station owned by another party. In essence, it is a sort of lease or tim ...

s. It owned national

basic cable Cable television first became available in the United States in 1948. By 1989, 53 million U.S. households received cable television subscriptions, with 60 percent of all U.S. households doing so in 1992. with Data by SNL Kagan shows that about 58 ...

channel/

superstation ''Superstation'' (alternatively rendered as "super station" or informally as "SuperStation") is a term in North American broadcasting that has several meanings. Commonly, a "superstation" is a form of distant signal, a terrestrial television, br ...

WGN America, regional cable news channel Chicagoland Television (CLTV) and Chicago radio station WGN. Investment interests include the Food Network, in which the company had a 31% share. Prior to the August 2014

spin-off Spin-off may refer to: *Spin-off (media), a media work derived from an existing work *Corporate spin-off, a type of corporate action that forms a new company or entity * Government spin-off, civilian goods which are the result of military or gove ...

of the company's publishing division into

Tribune Publishing Tribune Publishing Company (briefly Tronc, Inc.) is an American newspaper print and online media publishing company. The company, which was acquired by Alden Global Capital in May 2021, has a portfolio that includes the ''Chicago Tribune'', the ...

, Tribune Media was the nation's second-largest newspaper publisher behind the

Gannett Company Gannett Co., Inc. () is an American mass media holding company headquartered in McLean, Virginia, in the Washington, D.C., metropolitan area.Chicago Tribune'', '' Los Angeles Times'', '' Orlando Sentinel'', ''

Sun-Sentinel The ''Sun Sentinel'' (also known as the ''South Florida Sun Sentinel'', known until 2008 as the ''Sun-Sentinel'', and stylized on its masthead as ''SunSentinel'') is the main daily newspaper of Fort Lauderdale, Florida, as well as surrounding Br ...

'' and '' The Baltimore Sun'', and several commuter

tabloid Tabloid may refer to: * Tabloid journalism, a type of journalism * Tabloid (newspaper format), a newspaper with compact page size ** Chinese tabloid * Tabloid (paper size), a North American paper size * Sopwith Tabloid, a biplane aircraft * ''Ta ...

s. In 2007, investors bought the company, taking on substantial debt. The subsequent 2008 bankruptcy of Tribune Company was the largest bankruptcy in the history of the American media industry. In December 2012 the Tribune Co. emerged from bankruptcy. Tribune announced its sale to Hunt Valley, Maryland-based Sinclair Broadcast Group on May 8, 2017, but on August 9, 2018, Tribune cancelled the sale and sued Sinclair for breach of contract. On December 3, 2018,

Nexstar Media Group Nexstar Media Group, Inc. is an American publicly traded media company with headquarter offices in Irving, Texas; Midtown Manhattan; and Chicago, Illinois. The company is the largest television station owner in the United States, owning 197 te ...

announced that it would merge with Tribune Media for $4.1 billion. Within Nexstar, Tribune Media remains the license holder for all of the former Tribune stations retained directly by Nexstar after the Nexstar acquisition. The largest broadcast merger in U.S. history was approved in 2019.

History

Print pioneer

The Tribune Company was founded on June 10, 1847 when the eponymous '' Chicago Daily Tribune'' published its first edition in a one-room plant located at LaSalle and Lake Streets in downtown Chicago. The original press run consisted of 400 copies printed on a hand press. The ''Tribune'' constructed its first building, a four-story structure at Dearborn and Madison Streets, in 1869. The building was destroyed in the Great Chicago Fire of October 1871, along with most of the city. The ''Tribune'' resumed printing two days later with an editorial declaring "Chicago Shall Rise Again." Joseph Medill, a native Ohioan who acquired an interest in the ''Tribune'' in 1855, gained full control of the newspaper in 1874 and ran it until his death in 1899. Medill's two grandsons, cousins Robert R. McCormick and Joseph Medill Patterson, assumed leadership in 1911. That same year, the ''Chicago Tribune''s first newsprint mill opened in Thorold, Ontario, Canada. The mill marked the beginnings of the Canadian newsprint producer later known as QUNO, in which Tribune held an investment interest until 1995. Patterson established the company's second newspaper, the '' New York News'' in 1919. Tribune's ownership of the New York City

was considered "interlocking" due to an agreement between McCormick and Patterson. The paper launched a European edition during World War I. To compete with the ''

Saturday Evening Post ''The Saturday Evening Post'' is an American magazine, currently published six times a year. It was issued weekly under this title from 1897 until 1963, then every two weeks until 1969. From the 1920s to the 1960s, it was one of the most widely c ...

'' and ''

Collier's ''Collier's'' was an American general interest magazine founded in 1888 by Peter Fenelon Collier. It was launched as ''Collier's Once a Week'', then renamed in 1895 as ''Collier's Weekly: An Illustrated Journal'', shortened in 1905 to ''Collie ...

'' in 1924, the Tribune Company launched a weekly national magazine, '' Liberty'', run by a subsidiary, McCormick-Patterson.

Move into broadcasting

The company entered broadcasting in 1924 by leasing WDAP, one of Chicago's first radio stations. Tribune later changed the station's call letters to WGN, reflecting the ''Tribune''s nickname, "World's Greatest Newspaper." WGN was purchased by the company in 1926 and went on to become prominent in the radio industry. In 1925, the company completed its new headquarters, the Tribune Tower. That same year, the company decided to fund the future Joseph Medill School of Journalism at Northwestern University. ''Liberty'' magazine eventually exceeded Collier's circulation, but lacked sufficient advertising and was sold in 1931. The Tribune's European edition was also cut. However, Tribune launched the Chicago Tribune-New York News Syndicate content syndication service in 1933. With the death of Joe Patterson's sister and owner of the '' Washington Times-Herald'', Eleanor (Cissy) Patterson, in 1948, the Tribune Company purchased the paper and operated it until 1954, when the ''Times-Herald'' was absorbed by '' The Washington Post''. Expecting a printer's strike in November 1948, the ''Tribune'' printed their paper early, mistakenly proclaiming " Dewey Defeats Truman" in the 1948 presidential election. Tribune entered the television industry then in its infancy, in 1948, with the establishment of

WGN-TV WGN-TV (channel 9) is an Independent station (North America), independent television station in Chicago, Chicago, Illinois, United States. Owned by Nexstar Media Group, it is sister station, sister to the company's sole radio property, talk ra ...

in Chicago in April and WPIX in New York City in June of that year. In 1956, the Tribune Company purchased the '' Chicago American'' from William Randolph Hearst. In the 1960s, the company entered the booming Florida market, acquiring the Fort Lauderdale-based Gore Newspapers Company, owner of the Pompano-based ''

'' and ''

Fort Lauderdale News The ''Sun Sentinel'' (also known as the ''South Florida Sun Sentinel'', known until 2008 as the ''Sun-Sentinel'', and stylized on its masthead as ''SunSentinel'') is the main daily newspaper of Fort Lauderdale, Florida, as well as surrounding Br ...

'' in 1963 and the Sentinel-Star Company, owners of the '' Orlando Sentinel'', in 1965. Also in 1963, the company purchased part of the defunct '' New York Mirror''. The company increased its broadcast holdings with the acquisition of radio station WQCD-FM in New York City in 1964 and independent television station KWGN-TV in Denver in 1965. In 1967, the company began printing a tabloid serving suburban areas of Chicago, ''The Suburban Trib''. The corporation was reorganized in 1968 by reincorporating under Delaware's General Corporation Law, ending its Illinois incorporation, splitting its stock by four for one and forming a separate subsidiary of the ''Chicago Tribune''. The 1970s brought another decade of acquisitions for the company including the purchase of a Los Angeles shopper in 1973, which became the ''

Los Angeles Daily News The ''Los Angeles Daily News'' is the second-largest-circulating paid daily newspaper of Los Angeles, California. It is the flagship of the Southern California News Group, a branch of Colorado-based Digital First Media. The offices of the ''Dai ...

''. In 1973, the company began sharing stories among 25 subscribers via the newly formed news service, the Knight News Wire. By 1990, this service was known as KRT (Knight-Ridder/Tribune) and provided graphics, photo and news content to its member newspapers. When The McClatchy Company purchased

Knight-Ridder Inc. Knight Ridder was an American media company, specializing in newspaper and Internet publishing. Until it was bought by McClatchy on June 27, 2006, it was the second largest newspaper publisher in the United States, with 32 daily newspaper brand ...

in 2006, KRT became MCT (McClatchy-Tribune Information Services), which is jointly owned by the Tribune Company and McClatchy. The company stopped publishing the tabloid ''

Chicago Today The ''Chicago American'' was an afternoon newspaper published in Chicago, under various names until its dissolution in 1974. History The paper's first edition came out on July 4, 1900, as '' Hearst's Chicago American''. It became the ''Morning ...

'' in 1974; the Tribune also began publishing all-day editions. An approval of changes to the Tribune bylaws in 1974 triggered a lawsuit by shareholders who saw this as a move towards taking the company public. The lawsuit by Josephine Albright – Joseph Patterson's daughter – and her son, Joseph Albright, was dismissed in 1979. The Tribune Company entered first-run television syndication in 1975 with the debut of the ''

U.S. Farm Report The ''U.S. Farm Report'' (''USFR'') is a weekly syndicated United States television news program, presented in magazine format, which has a focus on agriculture and agribusiness. ''USFR'' is currently hosted by Tyne Morgan and is based in Sout ...

''. The '' Times-Advocate'' in Escondido, California was purchased by the company in 1977. In October 1978, United Video Satellite Group uplinked WGN-TV's signal to satellite, becoming a national "

", joining the ranks of WTCG (later WTBS, now WPCH-TV) in Atlanta and WWOR-TV in New York City. During 1978, the ''New York Daily News'' saw multiple employee strikes. In 1980, the ''Daily News'' added an afternoon edition to go head-to-head with the '' New York Post''; this expansion failed, with the newspaper reverting to once-daily editions with the end of the afternoon edition in 1981. Also that year, the '' Independent Network News'', an evening newscast intended for independent stations, was launched as the company's second syndicated television program, originating from WPIX. The ''New York Daily News'' was put up for sale in 1981, but a proposed deal fell through by 1982. In August of that year, Tribune purchased the

Chicago Cubs The Chicago Cubs are an American professional baseball team based in Chicago. The Cubs compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as part of the National League (NL) Central division. The club plays its home games at Wrigley Field, which is located ...

Major League Baseball team from

William Wrigley III William A. Wrigley III (January 21, 1933 – March 8, 1999), known as William Wrigley, was president of the Wm. Wrigley Jr. Company, founded by his grandfather William Wrigley Jr., from 1961 until his death from pneumonia in March 1999. His fa ...

. In 1981, all of Tribune's television stations, which were previously under the WGN Continental Broadcasting unit, were placed under the company's subsidiary Tribune Broadcasting Company. The following year, Tribune formed the Tribune Entertainment Company as a production subsidiary to produce the company's existing syndicated programs including the ''

'', as well as newer shows.

Public corporation

In 1983, ''The Suburban Trib'' was replaced by zone editions of the ''Chicago Tribune''. That October, the Tribune Company became a public firm, with the sale of 7.7 million shares at $26.75 a share. In 1985, Tribune Broadcasting acquired Los Angeles independent station

KTLA KTLA (channel 5) is a television station in Los Angeles, California, United States, serving as the West Coast flagship of The CW. It is the largest directly owned property of the network's majority owner, Nexstar Media Group, and is the seco ...

from Kohlberg Kravis Roberts for a record $510 million. Because of the Federal Communications Commission's media cross-ownership regulations, which prohibit the ownership of a television station and newspaper in the same market, Tribune was forced to sell the ''Los Angeles Daily News''. With the purchase of KTLA, Tribune became the fourth largest television station owner in the United States, behind the three major broadcast networks. The company acquired

Newport News, Virginia Newport News () is an independent city in the U.S. state of Virginia. At the 2020 census, the population was 186,247. Located in the Hampton Roads region, it is the 5th most populous city in Virginia and 140th most populous city in the Uni ...

newspaper, the '' Daily Press'' in 1986, but sold off the newspaper's co-owned cable television operations. To counteract a possible hostile corporate takeover in 1987, the Tribune Company developed a plan that allowed shareholders the right to purchase additional preferred shares from a new series of stock in the event that a buyer acquired 10% of the company's common stock or a tender offer for the company. Shareholders also ratified a two-for-one stock split. Tribune Entertainment experienced success in 1987 with the launch of the syndicated daytime talk show '' Geraldo''. In 1988, Tribune purchased five weekly papers based in Santa Clara County, California. In the wake of a dispute with some of its labor unions, Tribune sold the ''Daily News'' to British businessman Robert Maxwell in 1991. With changes in the media industry due to greater public access to the internet in the 1990s,

began to sell off some of its newspaper properties. Tribune Broadcasting steadily acquired additional stations during the decade, while Tribune itself launched two new divisions, Tribune Ventures and Tribune Education. In 1993, Tribune Broadcasting launched Chicagoland Television (CLTV), a 24-hour local cable news channel for the Chicago area. Online editions of Tribune's newspapers were developed starting in 1995, with the ''Chicago Tribune''s digital edition launching in 1996. Also in 1996, Tribune (holding a 20% interest) created a joint venture with American Online (which held an 80% interest) called Digital City, Inc. to set up a series of Digital City websites to provide interactive local news and information services. By 1997, Tribune Publishing had only four daily newspapers remaining in its portfolio: the ''Chicago Tribune'', the ''Fort Lauderdale Sun-Sentinel'', the ''Orlando Sentinel'' and the ''Daily Press''. Tribune also set up its Tribune Ventures division to acquire stakes in newer media businesses. During the middle of that year, Tribune Ventures purchased interests in companies such as AOL (owning 4%), electronic payment specialist CheckFree Corporation (owning 5%), search engine company Excite, Inc. (owning 7%), Mercury Mail, Inc. (owning 13%), Open Market, Inc. (owning 6%), and Peapod LP (owning 13%). Also that year, the ''Orlando Sentinel'' and Time Warner Cable joined together to create the Orlando-based local cable news channel, Central Florida News 13. Tribune also purchased a 31% stake in the Food Network. The company began the 1990s with six television stations, but changes to federal radio and television ownership regulations allowed Tribune to expand its television station holdings over the next decade. Tribune Broadcasting purchased ten additional stations by 1997, six of them acquired through that year's purchase of Renaissance Broadcasting for $1.1 billion in cash. Tribune purchased a 12.5% stake in The WB Television Network in August 1995; the company had ten of its 16 stations affiliated with the network (including five that were signed as charter affiliates through The WB's initial 1993 affiliation deal with Tribune). Tribune invested $21 million in The WB in March 1997, which increased its equity interest in the network to 21.9%. In November 1994, Tribune Broadcasting formed a partnership with several minority partners, including Quincy Jones, to form Qwest Broadcasting. Qwest operated as a separate company from Tribune (which owned stations in a few markets where Tribune had already owned stations, including WATL in Atlanta, which was operated alongside Tribune-owned

WGNX WGNX (96.7 FM) is an American radio station licensed to Colchester, Illinois, United States. The station is currently owned by Patricia Van Zandt. The station broadcasts a Christian format including some programming from the Moody Broadcasting N ...

); Tribune entered into a new business sector when it formed Tribune Education in 1993. The sector grew and provided high profit margins. Through 1996, Tribune used $400 million to purchase several publishers of education material:

Contemporary Books McGraw Hill is an American educational publishing company and one of the "big three" educational publishers that publishes educational content, software, and services for pre-K through postgraduate education. The company also publishes referenc ...

, Inc., The Wright Group, Everyday Learning Corporation, Jamestown Publishers, Inc., Educational Publishing Corporation, NTC Publishing Group and Janson Publications. In 1996, this group was the number one publisher of supplemental education materials. Tribune Education acquired an 80.5% stake in mass market children's book publisher Landoll in 1997. In June 1998, Tribune entered into a trade with Emmis Communications to swap WQCD-FM to the latter company, in exchange for acquiring two Emmis-owned television stations ( WXMI in Grand Rapids, Michigan and KTZZ in Seattle, Washington). It later traded WGNX in Atlanta to the

Meredith Corporation Meredith Corporation was an American media conglomerate based in Des Moines, Iowa, that owned magazines, television stations, websites, and radio stations. Its publications had a readership of more than 120 million and paid circulation of more ...

in exchange for KCPQ-TV in Seattle in March 1999. Later that year, the station purchased WEWB in Albany, New York and WBDC in Washington, D.C. Tribune Interactive, Inc. was incorporated to handle all the various websites for its publishing, television and radio, and newspaper properties. During the 1999 fiscal year, Tribune racked up $1.47 billion in profits on total revenues of $2.92 billion, in part from gains made on the sale of some of its internet investments. In February 2000, Tribune acquired the remaining 67% interest in Qwest Broadcasting for $107 million, effectively adding two more stations to its roster, increasing its reach 27% of the country. In June 2000, Tribune acquired the Los Angeles–based Times Mirror Company in a US$8.3 billion merger transaction, the largest acquisition in the history of the newspaper industry, effectively doubling the size of Tribune's newspaper holdings. The Times Mirror merger added seven daily newspapers to Tribune's existing publishing properties, including the '' Los Angeles Times'', the

Long Island Long Island is a densely populated island in the southeastern region of the U.S. state of New York (state), New York, part of the New York metropolitan area. With over 8 million people, Long Island is the most populous island in the United Sta ...

-based ''

Newsday ''Newsday'' is an American daily newspaper that primarily serves Nassau and Suffolk counties on Long Island, although it is also sold throughout the New York metropolitan area. The slogan of the newspaper is "Newsday, Your Eye on LI", and f ...

'', '' The Baltimore Sun'' and the ''

Hartford Courant The ''Hartford Courant'' is the largest daily newspaper in the U.S. state of Connecticut, and is considered to be the oldest continuously published newspaper in the United States. A morning newspaper serving most of the state north of New Haven ...

''. Through the deal, Tribune became the only media company that owned both newspapers and television stations in the three largest media markets of New York City, Los Angeles and Chicago, as a result of cross-ownership waivers that were approved by the FCC. Among other advantages from the merger, including various economies of scale, Tribune's newspapers could now effectively compete for national advertising, as it has grown to become the third largest newspaper group in the country. Tribune Media Net, the national advertising sales organization of

, was established in 2000 to take advantage of the company's expanded scale and scope. By 2001, revenues had grown to $5.25 billion. However, Tribune needed to pay down some of the debt that it accrued through the Times Mirror purchase; as a result, Tribune moved to sell various non-newspaper holdings operated by Times Mirror. Flight information provider Jeppesen Sanderson was sold to Boeing for $1.5 billion in October 2000. Also in October, the

Institute for International Research Institute for International Research, Inc. (IIR) was a subsidiary of Informa Plc. It grew from its founding in 1973 to become one of the world's largest conference providers. It became part of the Informa Group in 2005. In 2015, Informa rebra ...

purchased AchieveGlobal, a consulting and training firm for $100 million. Times Mirror Magazines was sold to Time, Inc. in November of that year for $475 million. Tribune divested its Tribune Education division to The McGraw-Hill Companies for $686 million in September 2000. After all these sales, Tribune still had $4 billion in long-term debt. Tribune started a joint venture with Knight-Ridder, CareerBuilder, that same year. After the 2001 September 11 attacks, the media sector suffered a greater decrease in advertising revenue. This forced a 10% reduction in staff companywide and a $151.9 million restructuring charge. In 2002 and 2003, Tribune Broadcasting bought four additional television stations, increasing its total television holdings to 26 stations, some of which were acquired via trades of the company's radio stations; this left its one-time radio flagship WGN (AM) in Chicago as the company's sole remaining radio station. Tribune Publishing purchased the monthly lifestyle publication '' Chicago'' from Primedia, Inc. in August 2002. '' Hoy'', a Spanish language newspaper owned by the company, expanded with the launch of local editions in Chicago (in September 2003) and Los Angeles (in March 2004). Tribune also launched daily newspapers targeting younger urban commuters, including the ''Chicago Tribune''s ''

RedEye Red eye, red-eye, redeye or variants may refer to: Related to the eye * Red-eye effect, in photographs * Red eye (medicine), an eye that appears red due to illness or injury * Red, an extremely rare eye color due to albinism * Red eyeshine i ...

'' edition in 2003, followed by an investment in '' AM New York''. That same year, Tribune pushed for the FCC to loosen its regulations barring cross-ownership of newspapers and broadcast outlets (television and/or radio) in a single market. Tribune would have to sell either a newspaper or television station in Los Angeles, New York City and Hartford while its combination of the ''Sun-Sentinel'' and WBZL-TV in Miami/

Fort Lauderdale, Florida Fort Lauderdale () is a coastal city located in the U.S. state of Florida, north of Miami along the Atlantic Ocean. It is the county seat of and largest city in Broward County with a population of 182,760 at the 2020 census, making it the tenth ...

was given a temporary waiver. The FCC granted waivers for the other newspaper-television combinations in June 2003. In 2006, Tribune acquired the minority equity interest in ''AM New York'', giving it full ownership of the newspaper. The company sold both ''Newsday'' and ''AM New York'' to Cablevision Systems Corporation in 2008. Tribune's partnership in The WB ended in 2006, when the network was shut down – along with CBS Corporation-owned UPN – to create The CW Television Network, which is jointly owned by CBS and Time Warner and is affiliated with several Tribune-owned stations; Tribune does not maintain an ownership interest in the network.

Zell ownership

On April 2, 2007, Chicago-based investor Sam Zell announced plans to buy out the Tribune Company for $34.00 a share, totalling $8.2 billion, with the intent to take the company private. The deal was approved by 97% of the company's shareholders on August 21, 2007. Privatization of the Tribune Company occurred on December 20, 2007 with termination of trading in Tribune stock at the close of the trading day. On December 21, 2007, Tribune and Oak Hill Capital Partners-controlled

Local TV, LLC Local TV LLC was a television broadcasting company owned by Oak Hill Capital Partners which operated 20 television stations in the United States. The group was formed in 2006 by the acquisition of nine television stations owned by The New York Ti ...

announced plans to collaborate in the formation of a "broadcast management company" (later named The Other Company). On January 31, 2008, Tribune Company announced it would purchase real estate leased from TMCT, LLC, which included properties used by the ''Los Angeles Times'', ''Newsday'', ''Baltimore Sun'' and ''Hartford Courant''. The company received an option to purchase the real estate for $175 million through the 2006 restructuring of TMCT, LLC. In addition, Tribune announced the sale of Tribune Studios and related real estate in Los Angeles to private equity firm Hudson Capital, LLC, for $125 million. The parties also agreed to a five-year lease allowing its television station in the city, KTLA, to continue operating at the location through 2012. On April 28, 2008, Tribune completed an acquisition of real estate from TMCT Partnership. On July 29, 2008, Cablevision Systems Corporation completed its purchase of ''Newsday'' from Tribune. On September 8, 2008, United Airlines lost (and almost regained) $1 billion in market value when an archived ''Chicago Tribune'' article from 2002 about United filing for bankruptcy appeared in the "most viewed" category on the ''

South Florida Sun-Sentinel The ''Sun Sentinel'' (also known as the ''South Florida Sun Sentinel'', known until 2008 as the ''Sun-Sentinel'', and stylized on its masthead as ''SunSentinel'') is the main daily newspaper of Fort Lauderdale, Florida, as well as surrounding Br ...

''s website.

Google News Google News is a news aggregator service developed by Google. It presents a continuous flow of links to articles organized from thousands of publishers and magazines. Google News is available as an app on Android, iOS, and the Web. Google rel ...

index's next pass found the link as new news. Income Security Advisors found the Google result to be new news, which was passed along to Bloomberg News where it became a headline (Tribune, which owns both papers, noted that one click on a story in non-peak hours could flag an article as "most viewed").

Bankruptcy reorganization

On December 8, 2008, faced with a high debt load related to the company's privatization and a sharp downturn in newspaper advertising revenue, Tribune filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection. Company plans originally called for it to emerge from bankruptcy by May 31, 2010, but the company would end up in protracted bankruptcy proceedings for another four years. With the company's overall debt totaling $13 billion, it was the largest bankruptcy in the history of the American media industry. On October 27, 2009, Thomas S. Ricketts purchased a majority ownership (95%) of the Chicago Cubs. The sale also included Wrigley Field and a 25% ownership stake in Comcast SportsNet Chicago, as part of a deal designed to help Tribune restructure. In October 2010, Randy Michaels, who was appointed CEO after Zell's purchase of the company, was removed and replaced by an executive council. '' The New York Times'' had reported earlier in the month about his "outlandish, often sexual behavior" that he also exercised in his previous job at

Clear Channel Communications iHeartMedia, Inc., formerly CC Media Holdings, Inc., is an American mass media corporation headquartered in San Antonio, Texas. It is the holding company of iHeartCommunications, Inc. (formerly Clear Channel Communications, Inc.), a company fou ...

Public corporation second time

On July 13, 2012, the Tribune Company received approval of a reorganization plan to allow the company to emerge from Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection in a Delaware bankruptcy court. Oaktree Capital Management, JPMorgan Chase and Angelo, Gordon & Co., which were the company's senior debt holders, assumed control of Tribune's properties upon the company's exit from bankruptcy on December 31, 2012. Coincident with emergence from bankruptcy, company stock began trading as an over-the-counter security under the symbol TRBAA. In December 2014, over-the-counter trading ended and the company's stock began trading on the New York Stock Exchange under the symbol TRCO. On February 26, 2013, it was reported that Tribune hired investment firms Evercore Partners and

J.P. Morgan JP may refer to: Arts and media * ''JP'' (album), 2001, by American singer Jesse Powell * ''Jp'' (magazine), an American Jeep magazine * ''Jönköpings-Posten'', a Swedish newspaper * Judas Priest, an English heavy metal band * ''Jurassic Park ...

to oversee the sale of its newspapers. On July 1, 2013, Tribune announced that it would purchase the 19 television stations owned by Local TV, LLC outright for $2.75 billion. The FCC approved the acquisition on December 20, and the sale was completed one week later on December 27. Tribune later announced its return to television production on March 19, 2013, with the relaunch of the production and distribution division as Tribune Studios (not to be confused with the former name of Los Angeles studio facility Sunset Bronson Studios).

Tribune Media

On July 10, 2013, Tribune announced that it would split into two companies, spinning off the newspapers that were part of its publishing division into a separate company. Its broadcasting, digital media and other assets (including Tribune Media Services, which among others, provides news and features content for Tribune's newspapers) would remain with the Tribune Company. The split came in the footsteps of similar spin-outs by News Corporation and Time Warner, which sought to improve the profitability of their properties by separating them from the struggling print industry. On November 20, 2013, Tribune announced it would cut 700 jobs in its newspaper operations, citing falling advertising revenue. The split was finalized on August 4, 2014, with the publishing arm being spun out as

, and the remainder of the company renamed Tribune Media.

Aborted acquisition by Sinclair Broadcast Group

On February 29, 2016, Tribune Media announced that it would review various "strategic alternatives" to increase the company's value to shareholders, which include a possible sale of the entire company and/or select assets, or the formation of programming alliances or strategic partnerships with other companies, due to the decrease in its stock price since the Tribune Publishing spin-off and a $385 million revenue write-down for the 2015 fiscal year, partly due to original scripted programming expenditures for WGN America since it converted the cable network from a superstation in 2014. In 2016, Tribune Media sold off real estate properties to net $409 million while authorizing $400 million in share repurchasing. In December 2016, Tribune Media sold Gracenote to

Nielsen Holdings Nielsen Holdings plc is an American information, data and market measurement firm. Nielsen operates in over 100 countries and employs approximately 44,000 people worldwide. The company was listed on the New York Stock Exchange (NYSE) and use ...

for $560 million; Tribune planned to use the sale to pay down a debt of $3.5 billion. Cash on hand was expected to pay out $500 million in dividends in the first quarter of 2017. In January 2017, Tribune Media announced that Peter Liguori would step down as President and CEO in March. On April 20, 2017, ''Bloomberg'' reported that Sinclair Broadcast Group was considering acquiring Tribune Media, contingent on plans by the FCC's new chairman, Ajit Pai, to reinstate the " UHF discount" (a policy which makes

UHF Ultra high frequency (UHF) is the ITU designation for radio frequencies in the range between 300 megahertz (MHz) and 3 gigahertz (GHz), also known as the decimetre band as the wavelengths range from one meter to one tenth of a meter (on ...

stations only count half of their total audience towards the FCC's 39% market share cap), which had been removed by Tom Wheeler during the final months of the

Obama administration Barack Obama's tenure as the 44th president of the United States began with his first inauguration on January 20, 2009, and ended on January 20, 2017. A Democrat from Illinois, Obama took office following a decisive victory over Republican ...

. The stocks of both companies rose in value in the wake of these rumors. As was expected, the FCC reinstated the UHF discount; under adjusted calculations, the two companies only had a combined market share of 42%, meaning that the combined company would be required to divest stations in order to stay below the cap. However, there was only an 11% market overlap between Tribune and Sinclair's stations. On April 30, 2017, '' The Wall Street Journal'' reported that there were competing bids for Tribune from a partnership between

21st Century Fox Twenty-First Century Fox, Inc., doing business as 21st Century Fox (21CF), was an American multinational mass media corporation that was based in Midtown Manhattan, New York City. It was one of the two companies formed on June 28, 2013, f ...

and private equity firm Blackstone Group (under which Fox would contribute its existing station group into a joint venture with Blackstone), and

. The Fox/Blackstone deal was being proposed as a defensive measure, due to concerns by 21st Century Fox over the number of Fox-affiliated stations Sinclair would control if it acquired Tribune Media. However, '' The New York Times'' reported that Fox had not actually made a formal bid for Tribune Media. On May 8, 2017, Sinclair Broadcast Group officially announced its intent to acquire Tribune Media in a cash-and-stock deal valuing the company at $3.9 billion, plus the assumption of $2.7 billion in debt held by Tribune. The proposed sale resulted in concerns from various groups over the effects of the UHF discount on U.S. media; the Institute for Public Representation coalition filed a request for an emergency motion to stay the reinstatement of the UHF discount order pending a court challenge, echoing Wheeler's opinion that it was outdated and intended to trigger media consolidation. On June 1, 2017, a federal appeals court issued a temporary administrative stay whilst evaluating the request, and rejected it on June 15. On July 13, 2017, a Tribune Media shareholder, identified as Sean McEntire, filed a class-action lawsuit, seeking to halt Tribune's sale to Sinclair, while former U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) attorney Willie Briscoe has begun investigating Tribune's sale to Sinclair. On that same date, another Tribune Media shareholder, identified in legal paperwork as Robert Berg, also filed a class-action lawsuit. The lawsuit accuses Sinclair and Tribune of withholding the details of the two companies' financial projections and the processes used in valuation analyses performed by their financial advisors. Additionally, the registration statement allegedly omits information about potential conflicts of interest concerning Tribune's board of directors and one of its financial advisors. Berg further claims that stockholders are entitled to "an accurate description" of the background of the deal, including processes used by the board to arrive at their decision to recommend the merger. Without this information, Berg argues, stockholders cannot determine whether they support the deal. On July 18, 2017, a third Tribune Media shareholder, identified in legal paperwork as David Pill, also filed a class-action lawsuit which seeks to halt Sinclair's acquisition of Tribune. On July 27, 2017, the law firm of Faruqi & Faruqi, LLP, filed a class-action lawsuit on behalf of Tribune Media shareholders who have been harmed by Tribune's and its board of directors' alleged violations of Sections 14(a) and 20(a) of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934 in connection with the proposed merger of the Company with Sinclair Broadcast Group, Inc. On October 19, 2017, the sale was approved by Tribune Media shareholders. On July 16, 2018, FCC chairman Ajit Pai was reported to have "serious concerns" about the merger and proposed a hearing before an administrative law judge. On August 9, 2018, Tribune decided to back out on the merger, and decided to sue Sinclair, alleging breach of contract.

Acquisition by Nexstar Media Group

In November 2018, sale rumors intensified again, with Byron Allen (founder of Entertainment Studios), Ion Media (in partnership with Cerberus Capital Management and Hicks Equity Partners) having reported interest and

reported as being a leading bidder. On December 3, 2018, Nexstar Media Group announced its intent to merge with Tribune Media for $6.4 billion and it will still be known as "Nexstar Media Group". The sale would give the company 216 stations in 118 markets, placing it just below the FCC's market cap of 39% of TV households. The sale price reflects a 45% increase in valuation over Sinclair's offer. Nexstar plans to divest some stations and "non-core" assets as part of the acquisition. On January 21, 2019, it was reported that Nexstar Media Group has agreed to merge with Tribune Media for about $4.1 billion in cash, making it the largest regional U.S. TV station operator and will take the Nexstar name. On August 1 of that year, the United States Department of Justice approved the deal. The sale was approved by the FCC on September 16, and completed on September 19.

Assets

* Tribune Broadcasting, broadcast media holdings ** Antenna TV ** This TV ** Tribune Studios ** WGN America ** Chicagoland Television, regional cable news channel *Tribune (FN) Cable Ventures Inc. ** Television Food Network, G.P. (31%, with Discovery, Inc.) *** Food Network *** Cooking Channel *

, print media holdings ** Zap2it ** TV by the Numbers ** CareerBuilder, an online employment website with The McClatchy Company and

Gannett Company Gannett Co., Inc. () is an American mass media holding company headquartered in McLean, Virginia, in the Washington, D.C., metropolitan area.Metromix, an entertainment website with Gannett Company ** Topix ** Tribune News Service, a publication put out by Tribune Content Agency * The WB, a former television network in joint venture with Warner Bros.

References

External links

* * {{DEFAULTSORT:Tribune Media Nexstar Media Group Defunct mass media companies of the United States Chicago Cubs owners Chicago Tribune 1847 establishments in Illinois 2019 disestablishments in Illinois Mass media companies established in 1847 Mass media companies disestablished in 2019 Publishing companies established in 1847 Publishing companies disestablished in 2019 Companies formerly listed on the New York Stock Exchange Companies that filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy in 2008 Oaktree Capital Management 2019 mergers and acquisitions