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Tribune Co. has taken another step toward the sale or break-up of the company, having announced yesterday that is has hired financial advisors Merrill Lynch and Citigroup to help determine its choices.
Chief executive Dennis FitzSimons has said that all options are possible, but that in order to maximize shareholder value, the initial focus will be to determine the best strategic alternatives for the company, writes Reuters.
Tribune announced last week that it had formed a committee to look at options that could create additional value for shareholders.
David B. Wilkerson, of MarketWatch, writes that while those alternatives could include the sale of specific newspapers or television stations or the entire company, the smartest play seems to be taking Tribune private.
He points out that Tribune Co. faces the same challenges that other newspaper groups face across the country: declining ad revenue, particularly in movies, technology, real estate and retail; rising newsprint costs; and declining circulations.
John Miller, vice president and assistant portfolio manager at Ariel Capital - one of Tribune’s largest shareholders - says he doesn’t know what the company could have done to stem the tide, considering the issues the industry as a whole is facing.
“I think they’ve done a really good job in managing the business, given the economics of the industry. So I think it was just a case of having an unhappy large shareholder, in the case of the Chandlers,” he is quoted as saying.
Katz Media Group has added another new client, Lincoln Financial Media, and will sell ad time on the company’s 15 stations beginning immediately.
Katz also added CBS Radio and Entercom last week, picking them off from Interep’s list.
Katz has also…
Last week, Aegis Group CEO Robert Lerwill resigned unexpectedly, sparking speculation that a takeover may be on the horizon.
Lerwill stepped down officially today (Monday), with Aegis chairman John Napier taking over his duties on an interim basis, writes MediaPost. People…
Out-of-home companies are bracing for the recession like everyone else, but they may not feel the sting as badly as other media.
Though the third quarter brought negative growth to the nation’s three largest OOH companies - Clear Channel Outdoor,…
The 82nd annual Macy’s Thanksgiving Day Parade pulled an average 12.6 rating/26 share on Thanksgiving morning, Nov. 27, according to Nielsen.
That was 8% higher than its telecast last year, Mediaweek writes. NBC estimated that a total 44.7 million viewers…
Time magazine ousted Cosmo as the top magazine for college students in this year’s Anderson Analytics fall survey.
Time also jumped past People, which was last year’s No. 2, writes Ad Age. A Time spokesperson said the magazine did not run…
Email, news gathering and paying bills continue to be the most widely used online activities among U.S. adults, but downloading TV programs, watching videos and making web phone calls posted the biggest overall growth, according to data from Mediamark Research…
