Sam Zell's San Diego TV station KWSB and XETV switch affiliates today in an underhanded deal that pissed off XETV brass big time. Michele Greppi TV WeekZell's Tribune empire: Ink-stained wretches out. TV in. WSJ.
FTV Live: It's practically like there's a government regulation that regulates how a TV station sounds," says Lee Abrams, Tribune's chief innovation officer. He notes that some of local-news conventions are fodder for parody, from "The Simpsons" to the 2004 movie "Anchorman: The Legend of Ron Burgundy," which stars Will Ferrell as a pompous 1970s news anchor -- and is set in San Diego. "It's out of date and ready for reinvention," he says.Mr. Abrams is part of a new management team hired by real-estate mogul Sam Zell, who led an $8.2 billion buyout of Tribune in December. The new team has been aggressive in cutting costs on the newspaper side of the business, where ad revenue has plunged since the deal amid an industrywide slump.The tough economy and a shift of young viewers to the Internet are also hurting ad sales in the TV industry. Several owners of major station groups, including Belo Corp., CBS Corp., General Electric Co.'s NBC Universal, and Walt Disney Co., have in recent weeks reported continuing softness in local advertising, and some groups have laid off staff in recent months.But Tribune's management team, many of whom cut their teeth in broadcasting, are optimistic about growth prospects for television. Local news has long been a signature program for TV stations otherwise dependent on syndicated talk shows and sitcom reruns. Homegrown newscasts also draw a disproportionate number of local advertisers.
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