The Tribune Company, owner of the
Chicago Tribune and
LA Times, announced Monday that it has sold WATL-TV (channel 36), its Atlanta television station, to the Gannett Company for $180
million. The sale is part of a larger attempt to put the company's finances on a good footing by selling off certain peripheral media properties including several TV stations. Recently, the company
also sold 2.8 million shares of Time Warner stock and another TV station--WCWN-TV, in Albany. These moves come amid an ongoing struggle between a majority of the company's board and a smaller group of
dissident shareholders led by the Chandler family.
