Tribune Company files bankruptcy.

December 8, 2008 by Dusty · 8 Comments

The Tribune Company owns the LA Times, Chicago Tribune and the Chicago Cubs and was purchased by the idiot rich guy named Sam Zell, has filed for bankruptcy protection. From the NYT:

Tribune, which was acquired last year by billionaire real estate investor Samuel Zell, had hired bankruptcy advisers like Lazard and the law firm Sidley Austin in recent weeks as it negotiated with creditors over debt covenants. (Read the bankruptcy petition here.)

It is only the latest – and biggest – sign of duress for the newspaper industry yet. Several newspaper companies have struggled to cope with declining revenues and mounting debt woes. Tribune has pared back the newsrooms of many of its papers, and it sold off Newsday to Cablevision’s Dolan family earlier this year. It is unclear what Tribune’s filing means for other newspaper publishers on the brink.

Zell is one of the world’s biggest pricks and richest men. Somehow I find it hard to feel sorry for him and after reading in the last year how he structured the purchase….I find this all stinking to high heaven quite frankly. The jackass is listed as Tribune chairman and chief executive. The holdings are extensive for The Tribune Company:

The Tribune Company owns 23 TV stations and 12 newspapers, including two of the eight largest in the country by circulation. As of Sept. 30, The Los Angeles Times had weekday circulation of 739,000 and the Chicago Tribune had 542,000.

It is going to be interesting to see how this all plays out, and how many more newspaper jobs are lost.