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Description of businesses

Tribune Broadcasting Tribune Publishing Tribune Interactive
     
Subsidiaries Television Stations Television Shows
   

Questions

Conglomeratization?

Globalization?

Horizontal Integration?

     

Vertical Integration?

 

Media Synergy?

 

Tribune Company

Tribune Company is a diversified media and entertainment corporation with interests in publishing, radio, television, and baseball.  The flagship of their publishing businesses is the Chicago Tribune which the company was founded upon in 1847 and still serves as a strong part of the company's financial base.  The Tribune Company is divided into three sections, Tribune Broadcasting, Tribune Publishing, and Tribune Interactive.  Included in the corporation are companies such as the Chicago Cubs, the WGN Superstation, Fox59 in Indianapolis, Los Angeles Times, and the Chicago Tribune. 

 

Tribune Broadcasting 
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        Television

 

Tribune Broadcasting owns and operates 23 television stations in markets across the United States.  They have stations in 14 of the top 25 television markets in the country.  The television portion of Tribune Broadcasting made up 84% of the division's annual revenue.  Tribune has a 22% stake in the WB network and 16 of its television stations are WB affiliates.  Six of their stations are Fox affiliates, including Indianapolis' own Fox59, and the remaining station is an ABC affiliate.  The Company also operates a 24 hour cable news network for the greater Chicagoland area.

The flagship of the Broadcasting Division is its superstation, WGN.  WGN is a cable station operating out of Chicago that is broadcast to 55 million homes across the United States.

        Radio

 

Tribune Broadcasting owns 4 radio stations located in Chicago and Denver.  The radio division makes up 4% of Tribune Broadcasting's annual revenue.  The flagship station of the radio division is, like the television division, WGN.  The WGN-AM radio station is broadcast all around the Chicago area and was founded in 1924.  The station was one of the earliest radio stations in the country and is know for being a pioneer in many different aspects of radio.

        Other Entertainment

  The remaining 12% of Tribune Broadcasting's annual revenue is made up of other entertainment  ventures.  Included in this category are companies that produce television shows for distribution.  It is the largest producer of hour long action drams in the nation.  Also included in this division is the Chicago Cubs baseball team.   The Tribune Company bought the team in 1981 and it has provided content for its television and radio stations and also profits for the corporation.

 

 

Tribune Publishing    
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  The largest portion of the Tribune Company's revenue comes from its Publishing division.  This division supplies over 70% of the operating budget for the company.  The company was founded upon the Chicago Tribune and has grown to include newspapers such as the Los Angeles Times and Newsday.  The Publishing Division has earned a total of 88 Pulitzer Prizes for their collection of newspapers.  The combined weekday circulation of Tribune Publishing periodicals is nearly 10 million and the Sunday circulation is over 12 million.

 

Tribune Interactive    
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  Tribune Interactive is the smallest division of the Tribune Company with only 1% of revenue.  This division manages all of the websites for of the different subsidiaries of Tribune Company and also some sites that operate independently such as www.blackvoices.com and www.chicagosports.com

 

 

Questions

Is there evidence of conglomeratization?
  No there is no evidence of conglomeratization.  The Tribune Company has not strayed from its beginnings as a media and publishing company.

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Is there evidence of globalization?
  No there is not evidence of globalization.  The company, while a very much a national company, is still focused on the Midwest region, particularly on the Chicago area.  The company has no companies overseas.

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Is there evidence of horizontal integration?
  Yes there is evidence of horizontal integration.  The company owns many newspapers and television stations in many markets showing that they are expanding their reach across the respective fields.

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Is there evidence of vertical integration?
  There is evidence of limited vertical integration.  The Tribune Studios create programming that is able to be aired on television networks including Tribune Company networks.  The news sources of Chicago Tribune, WGN-AM and WGN-TV provide content for each other and for CLTV, a 24-hour cable news channel. 

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Are there examples of media synergy?
  No there are not many examples of media synergy.  Other than companies promoting themselves, there are not too many examples.

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