{"id":4301,"date":"2012-09-19T17:28:09","date_gmt":"2012-09-19T21:28:09","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/bejone03.expressions.syr.edu\/trf235\/?p=4301"},"modified":"2013-04-14T14:29:57","modified_gmt":"2013-04-14T18:29:57","slug":"tribune-broadcasting-samantha","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/bejone03.expressions.syr.edu\/trf235\/2012\/09\/19\/tribune-broadcasting-samantha\/","title":{"rendered":"Tribune Broadcasting"},"content":{"rendered":"
by Samantha Sloan<\/pre>\n
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Tribune Broadcasting Logo \u00a9Tribune Broadcasting<\/p><\/div>\n
Tribune Broadcasting
\n435 N. Michigan Ave Suite 1800
\nChicago, IL 60611<\/p>\n
Phone: 312-222-3333
\nFax: 312-321-0446<\/p>\n
Website: http:\/\/www.Tribune.com<\/a><\/p>\n
Tribune Broadcasting is a pioneer in both radio and television broadcasting, and is a faction of the major media conglomerate, Tribune Company<\/a>. Tribune Broadcasting owns and operates 26 major market television stations, which cumulatively reach more than 80% of United States Households. The group is anchored by super-station WGN America<\/a>, which can be seen in more that 66 million households via satellite and cable services nationwide. 19 Tribune stations are affiliated with the growing Warner Brothers Television Network<\/a>, and Tribune holds a 22% equity investment in this network. [6]<\/a> [11]<\/a><\/p>\n
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Paul Wesley and Torrey Devitto pose at a Tribune Event. \u00a9Tribune Broadcasting<\/p><\/div>\n
Tribune Broadcasting is one of America\u2019s largest and most respected broadcasters, and has a long history of innovation and development. Starting in 1924 with WGN Radio<\/a>, Tribune Broadcasting has set a national precedent for American broadcasting. Tribune is responsible for radio\u2019s first live broadcast, television\u2019s first live sporting event, and the invention of instant replay and live aerial news coverage. Also, Tribune Broadcasting has recently switched from analog technology to the latest digital technology to help viewers gain access to the highest quality television possible. [10]<\/a><\/p>\n
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Tribune Broadcasting owns and operates many television stations across the country; however, Tribune also develops and distributes many first run syndicated television programs for the Tribune Station group. It also produces content for national syndication, including the Chicago Cubs Baseball Team<\/a> and Chicago\u2019s WGN-AM<\/a>.<\/p>\n
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Iron Chef is one of the most popular shows on the Food Network, and is owned by Tribune Broadcasting. \u00a9Food Network<\/p><\/div>\n
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The majority of Tribune Stations are affiliated with the media conglomerates, FOX<\/a>,and the CW Network<\/a>, however, they also have ties to ABC<\/a>,and MyNetworkTV<\/a> due to license agreements in some cities. Tribune holds equity interest in many networks and websites, including the Food Network<\/a>, Careerbuilder.com<\/a>, Classified Ventures<\/a>, ForSaleByOwner.com<\/a>, Homefinder.com<\/a>, and Topix<\/a>, to name a few. [16]<\/a> [5]<\/a><\/p>\n
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The top executives for Tribune Broadcasting are CEO, Nils Larsen, Chief Financial Officer and Senior Vice President of Administration, Gina Mazzaferri, Chief Executive Officer of the Tribune Company, Eddy W. Hartenstein, President of Programming Division, Sean Compton, and President for WPIX- TV<\/a>, Betty Ellen Berlamino.\u00a0 Real Estate billionaire, Sam Zell is also influential, and took ownership of the debt-heavy Tribune Company in the midst of bankruptcy. Zell took the company private, and is now working with Larsen to reestablish Tribune Broadcasting as an industry leader. [12]<\/a><\/p>\n
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Tribune Media Conglomerate Battles Debt \u00a9Tribune Broadcasting<\/p><\/div>\n
On December 8, 2008, the Tribune Company filed for Chapter 11 Bankruptcy, which was followed by a voluntary petition for reorganization in the United States Bankruptcy Court for the District of Delaware, which is in joint administration with the entire Tribune Media Conglomerate. Upon declaring bankruptcy, the company\u2019s senior debt holders, Oaktree Capital Management<\/a>, JP Morgan Chase<\/a>, Anglo, Gordon and Company <\/a>assumed control of Tribune\u2019s properties. Since then, the company has been transferring ownership of the Tribune Broadcasting Television and Radio Station licenses to the investment groups that now operate the company. For this reason, the company is no longer making any earnings public, and has not released any earnings information since 2008. The company is still operating its media business during while restructuring, which includes production of all content that was produced before the company filed for bankruptcy. [14]<\/a> [15]<\/a><\/p>\n
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Tribune Broadcasting CEO, Nils Larsen \u00a9Tribune Broadcasting<\/p><\/div>\n
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Nils Larsen became CEO April 2011, after the previous CEO, Jerry Kersting resigned due to his inability to effectively lead the company out of Chapter 11 Bankruptcy. Larsen has been an incredibly effective CEO, and has worked extensively to re-establish the company as a national broadcast leader. According to Tribune owner, Sam Zell, \u201cNils is the right person to lead out broadcast operations\u2026he\u2019s thoughtful, creative, and has the vision necessary to maximize the effectiveness of the group.\u201d[1]<\/a><\/p>\n
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In the past year and a half, Nils has shifted the company from one stuck in old ways to one that is innovative, creative, and focused extensively on demonstrating company worth to advertisers. In a recent press conference, Eddy Hartenstein, head of Tribune Co\u2019s Print section and editor of the LA Times stated that, \u201cunder Larsen\u2019s leadership, cash flows have been up significantly than they were a year earlier\u201d. Tribune Broadcasting keeps its financial information private, however this statement was incredibly promising, and a good sign for investors as the company plans to leave Chapter 11 Bankruptcy in the next few months.
\nNils Larsen has also taken the lead in the reinvention of Tribune Broadcasting and its role in local television. As stated by Lee Abrams, Tribune\u2019s Chief Innovation Officer, \u201cwe have to be radically and noticeably different-we have to imagine TV and TV news in a totally new way, one that breaks through and reinvents decades of the old, tired, TV playbook\u201d. These changes involve everything from station identifications, logos, graphics, promos, and to anything else that would distinguish a Tribune station from any other station in the market. [14]<\/a><\/p>\n
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Tribune Company’s New Website. The new design, frequently changing pictures, and opportunities for viewer responses is helping viewers become more connected with content. \u00a9Tribune Broadcasting<\/p><\/div>\n
On June 29th<\/sup>, 2012, Nils hired new creative directors John Zeigler and Carrie King, to implement dramatically new creative standards and promotional emphasis for the websites and television stations within their respective regions. In order to appeal to a younger demographic, the creative duo threw out Tribune\u2019s previous website design, and replaced it with a website that is more appealing to these younger viewers.[2]<\/a><\/p>\n
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Tribune has also distinguished itself from other broadcasters on August 8th<\/sup>, 2012 upon the release of the Augmented Reality Application<\/a>. This application was designed to help Tribune bridge the gap between what Chief Innovation Officer Lee Abrams referred to as the, \u201c1970\u2019s Television Playbook\u201d to content that spawns a symbiotic relationship between the broadcaster and the viewer. Chicago\u2019s WGN-TV was the first to launch this application, which they named WGNTV-AR. The company used Aurasma technology, which allows printed material to virtually come to life in either the 3D or video form. The company launched this application using the Chicago Tribune and Red Eye online newspapers. Simply, this mobile application allows readers to scan over content that interests them, and then they are linked to the video content on WGN-TV. The application was released widely, and is available on both Google Play and iTunes. \u00a0The Tribune Company is confident that this new technology will be beneficial to both their newspapers and television stations, and will help viewers become more involved in the content. [3]<\/a> [9]<\/a><\/p>\n
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Video: The Impact of Technology Dependency on Media Delivery<\/a><\/p>\n
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Tribune Broadcasting has had many carriage controversies in 2012 beginning on April 1st<\/sup>, when Tribune\u2019s carriage agreement with DirecTV<\/a> ended. On April 1st<\/sup>, all 23 broadcast stations owned by Tribune Broadcasting were pulled from the satellite provider at midnight. Tribune had been seeking retransmission consent payments from DirecTV, which the company had received for the carriage of WGN America under its previous carriage agreements. On April 3rd<\/sup>, DirecTV filed a complaint with the Federal Communications Commission claiming that Tribune representatives had acted in bad faith. This complaint spawned from the claim that the company had transferred control over its broadcast licenses to bankruptcy creditors in an inappropriate fashion. The dispute continued until April 5th<\/sup>, 2012, when Tribune Broadcasting and DirecTV reached an agreement for the Tribune Broadcasting Stations and WGN America. At 9:00pm that day, the complaint to the Federal Communications Commission was dropped and the Tribune stations were restored to DirecTV subscribers. [4]<\/a><\/p>\n
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Similarly, on April 16th<\/sup>, 2012, Tribune Broadcasting\u2019s carriage agreement with Cablevision was terminated which prompted the removal of WPIX, WCCT and WPHL being pulled from Cablevision systems in New Jersey, New York and Connecticut. Similarly, KWGN was pulled from Optimum West Systems in Colorado and Wyoming. On August 16th<\/sup>, 2012, Tribune Broadcasting clarified this removal of stations and subsequent confusion by stating that, \u201cCablevision has never compensated Tribune for the retransmission of its local stations, which are among the most highly watched channels on Cablevision\u2019s line-ups. \u00a0What we have proposed amounts to less than a penny a day per subscriber, well below what Cablevision pays to providers of less well-watched channels.\u201d [8]<\/a><\/p>\n
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Cablevision blocked out WPIX in dispute with Tribune Broadcasting \u00a9LIBN<\/p><\/div>\n
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On November 16th<\/sup>, 2012, the Federal Communications Commission announced that it has approved Tribune Broadcasting\u2019s request for the assignment of broadcast licenses and waivers in cross-ownership markets. Simply, the FCC granted the Tribune Company cross-ownership in Chicago, New York, Los Angeles, South Florida and Hartford. Tribune owns 23 television stations and 8 newspapers in these markets. The company is extremely excited about the decision, since it will allow the company to continue moving out of Chapter 11 Bankruptcy in the next several weeks. [13]<\/a> [14]<\/a>
\nOn November 19th<\/sup>, SVP of programming and entertainment, Sean Compton, moved up to president of programming at Tribune, overseeing WGN\/ Chicago as well as Tribune\u2019s 23 National TV Stations and the national WGN America cable station. Larsen was quoted in Radio Ink, <\/em>stating that, \u201c(Sean Compton) has been turning around the attitude at our station group and at WGN America by securing outstanding syndicated programming- and better programming means better ratings. He\u2019s making a huge difference in our recent success\u201d<\/p>\n
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Sources:<\/p>\n
[1]Sam Zell names Niels Larsen CEO http:\/\/articles.chicagotribune.com\/2011-06-01\/business\/ct-biz-0601-phil-20110601_1_randy-michaels-ceo-and-publisher-executive-shuffle<\/a><\/p>\n
[2]Tribune Broadcasting Reinvents Creative Services http:\/\/www.prnewswire.com\/news-releases\/tribune-broadcasting-reinvents-creative-services-97411229.html<\/a><\/p>\n
[3]Printed Reality Comes to Life as WGN-TV Launches Augmented Reality App http:\/\/www.wgntv.com\/about\/station\/pressrelease\/wgntv-printed-comes-to-life-as-augmented-reality-app-20120808,0,5805252.story<\/a><\/p>\n
[4]Tribune Broadcasting Says No To DirectTV Deal http:\/\/usatoday30.usatoday.com\/money\/companies\/story\/2012-04-01\/tribune-directv-deal\/53919334\/1<\/a><\/p>\n
[5]Tribune Broadcasting http:\/\/en.wikipedia.org\/wiki\/Tribune_Broadcasting<\/a><\/p>\n
[6]Tribune Company Website http:\/\/www.tribune.com\/<\/a><\/p>\n
[7] Newspaper Paywalls http:\/\/www.thewrap.com\/media\/article\/newspaper-paywalls-too-little-too-late-fallen-giant-industry-35885<\/a><\/p>\n
[8] Tribune Company Statement on Negotiations with CableVision http:\/\/corporate.tribune.com\/pressroom\/?p=4462<\/a><\/p>\n
[9] Printed Material Comes to Life with New Augmented Reality App http:\/\/corporate.tribune.com\/pressroom\/?p=4452<\/a><\/p>\n
[10] Analog. Digital. What’s the Difference? http:\/\/telecom.hellodirect.com\/docs\/Tutorials\/AnalogVsDigital.1.051501.asp<\/a><\/p>\n
[11]Company Overview of Tribune Broadcasting Co. http:\/\/investing.businessweek.com\/research\/stocks\/private\/snapshot.asp?privcapId=1579369<\/a><\/p>\n
[12] About Tribune Administration\/ Executives http:\/\/corporate.tribune.com\/pressroom\/?page_id=2<\/a><\/p>\n
[13] Tribune Co. Bankruptcy http:\/\/www.deadline.com\/tag\/tribune-co-bankruptcy\/<\/a><\/p>\n
[14] Tribune Win’s FCC Approval http:\/\/corporate.tribune.com\/pressroom\/?p=4835<\/a><\/p>\n
[15] Restructuring Information Website http:\/\/dm.epiq11.com\/TRB\/Project<\/a><\/p>\n
[16] Tribune Company History http:\/\/corporate.tribune.com\/pressroom\/?page_id=2313<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
by Samantha Sloan   Tribune Broadcasting 435 N. Michigan Ave Suite 1800 Chicago, IL 60611 Phone: 312-222-3333 Fax: 312-321-0446 Website: http:\/\/www.Tribune.com Tribune Broadcasting is a pioneer in both radio and television broadcasting, and is a faction of the major media … Continue reading →<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":180,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":[],"categories":[25,153],"tags":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/bejone03.expressions.syr.edu\/trf235\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/4301"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/bejone03.expressions.syr.edu\/trf235\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/bejone03.expressions.syr.edu\/trf235\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/bejone03.expressions.syr.edu\/trf235\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/180"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/bejone03.expressions.syr.edu\/trf235\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=4301"}],"version-history":[{"count":20,"href":"https:\/\/bejone03.expressions.syr.edu\/trf235\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/4301\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":13173,"href":"https:\/\/bejone03.expressions.syr.edu\/trf235\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/4301\/revisions\/13173"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/bejone03.expressions.syr.edu\/trf235\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=4301"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/bejone03.expressions.syr.edu\/trf235\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=4301"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/bejone03.expressions.syr.edu\/trf235\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=4301"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}