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Rupert Murdoch has succeeded in nabbing an agreement in principle from Tribune Co. to purchase Newsday for about $580 million in what would be a joint venture.
Murdoch’s News Corp. would own most of the company, with Tribune keeping a stake of less than 5 percent, according to Reuters. Such a purchase would allow News Corp. to wipe out as much as $50 million in annual losses from the New York Post; a combined Newsday-Post operation would earn roughly $50 million, said a person familiar with the situation.
The deal would also be a key to Tribune chief Sam Zell in helping reduce debt at his newly acquired company. Zell took Tribune Co. private last year in an $8.2 billion buyout last year.
Announcement of a deal may not come for three or four weeks.
While Murdoch believes Newsday will give his New York Post a more secure future, he thinks it is likely that U.S. antitrust officials may slow a sale.
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…
