• by Erik Sass  @eriksass1, October 12, 2009

The Tribune Co. announced Monday that it is launching a new multichannel sales service, Tribune 365, which will give advertisers access to various Tribune Co. media properties for coordinated campaigns reaching consumers via multiple media channels. These include 23 local television stations, major regional newspapers, and an array of radio, digital, and mobile channels.

The new service is intended to facilitate national and local ad campaigns by offering greater scale and efficiency in media placements, and is backed by a new study of local media effectiveness commissioned by Tribune and performed by Personal Media Research. This proprietary research effort found that consumers find special value in local news and information when making purchase decisions, with a high degree of trust in newspaper advertising in particular.

Tribune assets participating in the new service include major regional newspapers like the Chicago Tribune, Los Angeles Times, and Baltimore Sun, among others, as well as affiliated newspapers like the Dallas Morning News, which recently signed a deal making Tribune its national sales representative.

Also this week, Tribune Co. announced that the Chicago Cubs sports franchise had declared bankruptcy, as expected, as part of its sale to the Ricketts family. The move will help shield the team and its new owners from any claims by Tribune creditors potentially arising later. Tribune Co. itself remains in Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection, but could exit bankruptcy by the end of the year, according to a New York Times report from August.