Clear Channel Sues Over Tribune Hire

Clear Channel Radio is suing the Tribune Co. for misappropriation of trade secrets in connection with Tribune's recent hiring of Andy Friedman, previously the vice president of news, talk and sports at the radio giant's online music and radio division.

The lawsuit, filed in a federal court in Chicago last Monday, accuses Tribune of unfair competition and seeks monetary damages and the return of any sensitive business documents, as well as an injunction to keep Friedman from working for Tribune until the end of this year.

Clear Channel argues that Friedman possesses detailed knowledge of ongoing projects and digital strategies that a competitor could use to harm the company, and also says that he's threatening to disclose these trade secrets. The company says it examined Friedman's laptop and found evidence that thousands of work-related files and email documents had been deleted and work-related information transferred to another source. Clear Channel also accuses Friedman of violating his employment contract, which runs until the end of 2008. Friedman was with Clear Channel for about eight years.

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Hired by Tribune to serve as vice president of its interactive division, Friedman was just the latest in a series of former Clear Channel executives snapped up by Tribune's new owner, Sam Zell. The most prominent is Randy Michaels--now Tribune's chief operating officer, who served as CEO of Clear Channel from 1999-2002, after the company merged with Jacor, a radio group owned by Sam Zell's Zell Chillmark fund.

After Zell hired Michaels in December 2007, Michaels then raided Clear Channel in April of this year, poaching Jerry Kersting to serve as CFO, Marc Chase and Sean Compton as senior vice presidents for programming, and Steve Gable as vice president, technology. All four were associated with Michaels during his tenure at Clear Channel.

At first glance, the sight of a newspaper company poaching on radio turf might be confusing, but the two traditional media companies are converging--and competing--in the new arena of online video.

According to Ken Doctor, an analyst with Outsell Inc., Tribune's new interactive hires will probably be tasked with integrating professional video content from the company's TV stations more closely with its online operations, including newspaper Web sites for the Chicago Tribune, Los Angeles Times and Baltimore Sun.

The move especially makes sense when viewed alongside its push for scale and efficiency in local news operations, Doctor said. He pointed to the announcement in December of a partnership between Tribune and Local TV to create a broadcast management company, followed by Tribune's decision this March to consolidate the broadcast and interactive operations of its Miami television station, WSFL-TV, with the South Florida Sun-Sentinel, based in Fort Lauderdale.

Until now, Clear Channel appeared to take the serial poaching in stride. On April 4th, president John Hogan even portrayed it as a compliment, noting: "We can totally understand why Randy Michaels would want to hire them."

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