When WGN recently placed its North side studios up for sale following rumors that venerable Trib Tower was for sale by Tribune Media, it was a clear harbinger of the pending demise of Chicago-based Tribune Media, the fossil of Colonel McCormick’s once great diversified, vertically-integrated media conglomerate. In a statement reported in national media today (February 29th, 2016) Peter Liguori, Tribune Media Chairman, declared: “Tribune’s assets are valuable, powerful and performing well, as reflected in our full-year 2015 operating results.” He then announced a write-down of $385 million dollars and stated the company could be sold in parts or in whole.
While all of the old broadcast networks have struggled with the challenge of digital distribution and social networks, none have fared as poorly as Tribune Media and its predecessor company. One of the main factors in Tribune Media’s recent decline was ascribed to the failure of their original program production and to the syndicated programs they had purchased for their cable and broadcast networks. For four decades, Chicago-based Tribune has been producing original programs in LA with little to show for it. During that time several independent producers have had greater success in Chicago than Tribune has had in LA.
Tribune Media owns 42 television broadcast stations across America including WGN here in Chicago. The FCC still must approve any change in license ownership and those licenses are increasing in value. One abiding Chicago tradition is to totally ignore regulatory battles involving television licenses that impact Chicago’s position as a center of program production. Likely that will happen again as the Colonel’s media empire is dismembered.
For more about Chicago’s tradition in television production read Chicago’s Radio and Television Industry History.
sinclair is what? southern oil money?
Sinclair Television Group is not associated with the old Sinclair oil giant. It is the owner of television and radio stations most of whom are affiliated with an existing television network like Fox and NBC. The television stations are for the most part apolitical, some of the radio stations use conservative commentators