In a sign that Tribune Co. may be preparing to exit the broadcast TV business, the company's investment bankers have begun offering its premier TV stations -- KTLA Channel 5, WPIX in New York and WGN in Chicago -- to selected potential buyers.
One reason it is shopping the stations is the pending expiration of broadcast licenses. KTLA's eight-year license expires Dec. 1, at which time Tribune could be found in violation of Federal Communications Commission regulations banning ownership of a newspaper and a broadcast outlet in the same market, because it also owns the Los Angeles Times.
Tribune faces the same problem in New York, where it owns Newsday and WPIX, whose license expires June 1.
When Tribune bought The Times and Newsday in 2000, it hoped cross-ownership rules would be lifted before the licenses expired. But experts believe that the sweep by Democrats in Tuesday's election will only solidify support for ownership restrictions.
Tribune has applied for a KTLA license renewal and a waiver until the FCC completes a pending review of the regulations -- a process that may drag well into 2007. The agency in 2003 proposed relaxing the rule, but a federal appeals court sent the issue back to the FCC after a legal challenge by opponents.
"The chances of the cross-ownership rules being changed anytime soon just went away with Tuesday's election," said one executive who has expressed interest in some Tribune properties. The executive did not want to be identified because of the sensitivity of the subject.
Although Republicans hold a 3-2 majority on the commission, the agency will have to deal with Democratic-led committees in Congress, he said, and "they're not going to go looking for a fight." Democrats generally are more supportive of the cross-ownership strictures.
Shaun M. Sheehan, Tribune's vice president for Washington affairs, said Thursday that he remained confident that Tribune could obtain at least temporary waivers for KTLA and WPIX. If KTLA's renewal application is rejected, he said, Tribune would appeal the decision to federal court in Washington.
A sale of WGN in particular -- the call letters stand for "World's Greatest Newspaper," long the slogan of the Chicago Tribune -- would mark a profound change in the company's makeup.
