• Ad Age, Tuesday, July 11, 2006 11:30 AM

Consumer groups are aiming to do what the Chandler family hasn't pulled off yet--force Tribune Co. to sell off some of its newspapers or TV stations, reports Ad Age. As the Federal Communications Commission launches a re-examination of media-ownership rules, Tribune Co. is facing a breakup six years after it bought Times-Mirror and the cross-ownership violations thus created in New York, Los Angeles and Hartford, Conn. Though FCC rules banned newspapers and broadcasters from licensing new cross-ownerships, Tribune bet the rules would change by the time the licenses of its TV stations in the markets came up for renewal. But the issue has not been decided and Tribune's time is almost up. The L.A. TV license has to be filed early next month and current FCC rules say that license can't be granted while it owns the Los Angeles Times. The company will seek a waiver and is expected to have the support of FCC Chairman Kevin Martin. Shaun Sheehan, Tribune Co.'s vice president-Washington affairs, says the rule hangs "by the thinnest of threads" because it was adopted in 1975, well before growth of competing media platforms. But groups concerned about growing media concentration are gearing up for a fight: "The basis for which waivers are granted is financial hardship and difficulty of effectuating a sale," says Andy Schwartzman, director of the Media Access Project. "They've had five or six years to do something with the Los Angeles Times. It doesn't make any sense.”

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