Message from Dennis FitzSimons - CEO Tribune

Dear Fellow Employee:

As we approach the fourth quarter, here’s an update on news from around the company:

• Last week our TV group kicked off the fall season with the launch of “Two and a Half Men” and “Family Guy.” Ratings were solid and especially promising in New York and Chicago. This week, our 14 CW stations will premiere “Gossip Girl,” one of three new shows to receive great early reviews by TV critics and media buyers. The CW’s other preseason favorites are “Reaper” and “Aliens in America.”
• The FCC will conduct a public “field hearing” on broadcast ownership rules this Thursday in Chicago. This is the Commission’s fifth in a series of six events across the country. Tribune Company will be represented on a panel by Tom Langmyer, WGN Radio vice president/general manager, who will emphasize our commitment to local news coverage and community involvement. John Lavine, Dean of the Medill School of Journalism, will give his views on the state of local media. The proceedings, although dealing with local media ownership rules, are separate from Tribune’s FCC waiver petitions in connection with our going-private transaction.
• Our New Orleans television stations, WGNO (ABC26) and WNOL (CW38), recently opened an all-new broadcast center. WGNO’s first newscast from the facility took place exactly two years after Hurricane Katrina struck the Gulf Coast. Louisiana Senator Mary Landrieu delivered a tribute to WGNO on the Senate floor and we certainly share her appreciation for how Larry Delia and his team responded to the challenge of a very difficult post-storm recovery.
• Tribune Interactive’s expansion of Metromix keeps moving forward. This month, a new site launched in South Florida and existing sites in Baltimore and Chicago relaunched with a design template consistent with Metromix’s growing network. The upgrades will benefit advertising sales and enhance the user experience.
• In early October we will begin communicating about employee health benefits for 2008. A summary of health and wellness benefit plans will be mailed to eligible employees, followed by the annual “open enrollment” period on eBenefits starting October 15.

We’ll keep you informed during the weeks ahead, including updates on the going-private transaction, which is still expected to close before year end. Thanks for your continued efforts on behalf of the company.

Sincerely,
Dennis FitzSimons

SOURCE: LA Times Pressmen Forums