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Sun owner reviewing ‘core assets’ as Tribune Co. reports bleak earnings
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Related Topics: BALTIMORE
BALTIMORE (Map, News) - Tribune Co. Chairman and Chief Executive Officer Sam Zell likely enjoyed the “Born To Be Wild” entrance music played at The Sun’s recent all-employee meeting with him.
But the motorcycle-riding billionaire can’t be wild about his company’s latest earnings report, released last Thursday.
In fact, the $78 million fourth-quarter 2007 loss from continuing operations — compared to a $233 million fourth-quarter 2006 gain — and 12-fold decline in ’07 income to $55 million may even have him thinking about selling once-sacred “core assets,” including The Sun.
“We have begun a strategic review of certain Tribune assets to determine whether capital can be more effectively redeployed into our core operations or toward reducing our outstanding leverage,” Zell, who took the company private in a $8.2 billion merger last year, said in an otherwise upbeat statement about on the report.
Similar sentiments were conveyed a week earlier at The Sun’s meeting, where, in response to a question about his willingness to sell the paper, Zell reportedly answered, “I don’t know.”
“There were a lot of pointed questions about coverage — about the newspaper as opposed to the business,” said Tanika White, Baltimore-Washington Newspaper Guild unit co-chairwoman and Sun reporter. “His message was, ‘If we make more money, we can talk about [coverage].’ ”
According to White, Zell also said that the paper’s disparate real estate configuration — including its remotely located 20-person Web page operation — doesn’t make “a lot of sense,” and he “very much wants to fix it.”
The company may have good reasons to keep its Web operation at the expensive Village at Cross Keys site, however, said Bill Salganik, president of the Baltimore-Washington Newspaper Guild. Its location figured into a court ruling that its personnel are not covered by Guild-Sun management agreements.
“I think that’s the main reason they keep it that way,” Salganik said, “because it certainly doesn’t make it a better Web site.”
According to the report, Tribune Co. fourth-quarter 2007 operating revenues decreased 7 percent year-over-year to $1.27 billion, while its newspaper operating revenues were down 7 percent for the quarter to $952 million.
Overall advertising revenues declined 9 percent — or $132 million — for the quarter, and circulation revenues fell 5 percent, or $17 million. The company’s 2007 newspaper operating revenues declined 7 percent, to $3.66 billion.
Comments from Examiner Readers
4:41 AM MST on Wed., Jul. 16, 2008 re: "Sun layoffs loom as buyout response lags cut-back minimum"
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6:36 PM MST on Fri., Jul. 4, 2008
re: "Newspaper Guild assents to The Sun’s buyout terms"
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10:12 AM MST on Wed., Jul. 2, 2008
re: "Newspaper Guild assents to The Sun’s buyout terms"
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10:01 PM MST on Mon., Mar. 24, 2008
re: "Sun owner reviewing ‘core assets’ as Tribune Co. reports bleak earnings"
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11:13 AM MST on Wed., Feb. 6, 2008
re: "Purchase of Sun plant could pave way for redevelopment"
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The Corrector said:
They publish two daily newspapers - The Sun and b.
3 agree | 2 disagree
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Examiner Reader said:
I am certain that if The Sun had not succumb to being a liberal rag it would still be flourishing. As a conservative, I subscribe to The Sun but only do so out of habit and because I like to know what the enemy is espousing.
2 agree | 8 disagree
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Examiner Reader said:
Wow! Mr. Corrigan finally wrote an article about something other than nonprofits. He didn't write it well, but at least it was about something else. For example, when the labor unit goes from 500 to 400, we don't need an explanation that 45 were last year and 45 were this year. Also note that 45 + 45 does not equal 100.
11 agree | 4 disagree
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Hollow Man said:
What "core assets"? A newspaper that is losing circulation and is sooo 1980's it's no wonder nobody reads it. News is on the web, baby. Print media is a quaint hold over from a time now past. The Sun is setting into irrelevancy and good riddance.
5 agree | 6 disagree
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BA said:
Why not redevelop an already residentially aimed area? Traffic will only get ten times worse at that bottle neck on Hanover Street, which it and 95 would be the only entrance and exit to that area.
33 agree | 40 disagree
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