| 
Tribune to Sell Chicago Cubs Following
2007 Baseball Season
25% Interest in Comcast SportsNet Chicago
Also to be Sold
CHICAGO, April 2,
2007 -- Tribune
Company (NYSE:TRB) announced today that it plans to sell
the Chicago Cubs and the company’s 25 percent interest
in Comcast SportsNet Chicago after the conclusion of the
2007 baseball season. The sale is expected to be completed
in this year’s fourth quarter.
"The Cubs have been an important part of Tribune for
more than 25 years and are one of the most storied franchises
in all of sports," said Dennis FitzSimons, Tribune
chairman, president and chief executive officer. "In
our last season of ownership, the team has one mission, and
that is to win for our great fans."
Tribune has long-term contracts in place for Cubs programming
on WGN-TV, Superstation WGN, WGN-AM Radio and Comcast SportsNet
Chicago. The company was a founding partner when Comcast
SportsNet Chicago was launched in 2004 and holds a 25 percent
stake the network, which will broadcast 72 regular season
Cubs games in 2007.
"This transition will not impact our
on-field performance," said
John McDonough, Cubs president and chief executive officer.
"We expect to compete and win -- our goal of bringing
a World Series championship to Cubs fans everywhere hasn’t
changed."
Tribune purchased the Chicago Cubs and historic Wrigley
Field in 1981. Attendance has soared in recent years, setting
a record of 3,170,184 fans in 2004. Total attendance again
surpassed 3 million in 2005 and 2006.
The sale of the team is subject to the approval of Major
League Baseball.
:: ::
::
TRIBUNE (NYSE:TRB) is one of the country’s
top media companies, operating businesses in publishing,
interactive 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’s leading
daily newspapers include the Los Angeles Times, Chicago Tribune,
Newsday (Long Island, N.Y.), The Sun (Baltimore), South Florida
Sun-Sentinel, Orlando Sentinel and Hartford Courant. The
company’s broadcasting group operates 23 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. |
