Tribune Co. intends to split its broadcasting and publishing divisions into separate companies, the Chicago Tribune reports. The announcement comes just a week after Tribune announced an expansion of its broadcast division with a $2.7 billion purchase of Local TV’s 19 stations.
In a statement, CEO Peter Ligouri said the separation is “designed to allow each company to maximize its flexibility and competitiveness in a rapidly changing media environment.”
“Moving to separate our publishing and broadcasting assets into two distinct companies will bring single-minded attention to the journalistic standards, advertising partnerships and digital prospects of our iconic newspapers, while also enabling us to take advantage of the operational and strategic opportunities created by the significant scale we are building in broadcasting,” Ligouri said.
The Chicago Tribune, Tribune’s flagship publication, reports a detailed plan for the split will be developed over the next year. Only the newspapers and publishing assets would move to the new company, Tribune Publishing Co. The company’s 42 television stations, as well as its radio properties, would be retained by Tribune Co.