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Tribune Company Statement on District
Court Ruling
CHICAGO, March 21, 2005 --
Tribune Company today released the following
statement regarding a District Court ruling on newspaper/television
cross-ownership in the Hartford, Connecticut market:
"Today, a District Court in Hartford, Connecticut
ruled that Tribune’s holdings in the Hartford, Connecticut
market (The Hartford Courant, WTIC-TV and WTXX-TV) were
in violation of the FCC’s newspaper/television cross-ownership
rule. This order was not a ruling on the merits of the cross-ownership
rule and we believe the decision is wrong and seriously flawed.
- The judge reached his decision
by applying FCC rules that are currently on remand
from the 3rd Circuit Court of Appeals to the FCC and subject
to a petition for certiorari to the United States Supreme
Court.
- In June 2003, the FCC completed a two-year
omnibus rule-making and established new cross-ownership
rules that permitted newspaper/television combinations
in large markets. In June 2004, the 3rd Circuit agreed
with the FCC with respect to relief in large markets
such as Hartford.
In the Hartford case, the Chief of the
Mass Media Bureau of the FCC filed a letter confirming
the commission’s
view that Tribune was not in violation of its rules in Hartford
pending resolution of the FCC’s multiple ownership
proceedings.
We will seek a stay of this ruling pending appeal and we
expect that the FCC or the Supreme Court will clarify the
cross-ownership rule during the appeal process. During the
appeal process we will continue serving readers and viewers
in the greater Hartford community by operating The Courant,
WTIC-TV, and WTXX-TV as a source of news, information and
entertainment programming.
The ruling has no effect on the operations
of Tribune’s
newspapers or television stations in any other market. Nothing
in the District Court’s decision changes our view on
the likelihood of cross-ownership relief. We continue to
believe the rule will be relaxed and all Tribune markets
will be in compliance without required divestitures."
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TRIBUNE (NYSE: TRB) is one of
the country’s top media
companies, operating businesses in publishing and broadcasting.
It reaches more than 80 percent of U.S. households and is
the only media organization with newspapers, television stations,
and websites in the nation’s top three markets. In
publishing, Tribune operates 11 leading daily newspapers
including the Los Angeles Times, Chicago Tribune and Newsday,
plus a wide range of targeted publications such as Spanish-language
Hoy. The company’s broadcasting group operates 26 television
stations, Superstation WGN on national cable, Chicago’s
WGN-AM and the Chicago Cubs baseball team. Popular news and
information websites complement Tribune’s print and
broadcast properties and extend the company’s nationwide
audience.
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