Media conglomerate the Tribune Company is to spin off the Los Angeles Times, the Chicago Tribune and other newspapers to focus on its more promising television and internet properties, the company said on Wednesday.
It echoes a similar decision by Rupert Murdoch’s News Corp, which recently split into two in order to free its highly profitable TV and film businesses from the less lucrative publishing arm, which included the Wall Street Journal and The Times in London.
Tribune emerged from bankruptcy protection late last year and signalled its focus on broadcasting with a $ 2.7 billion deal last week to purchase 19 local TV stations across the United States.
The acquisition brings the number of stations it owns to 42, making it one of the largest station operators in the country. The company also owns lucrative web sites like CareerBuilder.com and Classified Ventures.
Under the new structure these stations and websites would remain in the Tribune Company, while the newspapers would be owned by a new firm called Tribune Publishing Company. Each of the new entities will have its own board of directors and senior management team.
“The two companies resulting from this transaction would each have revenues in excess of 1 billion dollars and significant operating cash flow,” Peter Liguori, Tribune’s Chief Executive said in a statement.
“We expect that this transaction will serve our shareholders and employees well, and put these businesses in a strong position for continued success”.