Reshuffling The Organization p. 20

By: Editorial Staff Tribune Co. of Chicago places newspapers, TV stations,
entertainment operations under one management umbrella;
creates new unit to oversee new media ventures
TRIBUNE CO., IN a reshuffling of its organizational chart, has placed newspapers, TV stations and entertainment operations under one management umbrella and created a new unit to oversee new media ventures.
The moves, approved by the board July 26 and effective Aug. 1, put 90% of the company under Tribune Media Operations, including the flagship Chicago Tribune and five other dailies, radio and TV stations, news networks and the Chicago Cubs baseball team.
Tribune New Media, meanwhile, will manage a growing stable of developing information businesses, joint ventures and investments that account for $200 million of the company's more than $2 billion in annual revenues.
The new organization brings newspapers and broadcast properties that were previously managed separately closer together to foster greater cooperation. It also creates a management structure designed specifically to oversee the company's acquisitions in new media, from CD-ROM publishers to on-line computer information services.
The reorganization was the first major action by John Madigan since he was named earlier this year as Tribune Co. president and chief operating officer ? and heir apparent to chairman and CEO Charles Brumback.
The new alignment will help Tribune Co. "to achieve greater cross-business sharing of technology and talent and to better develop people for management positions," Madigan said in a statement, and to reinforce its position as "as an information and entertainment company."
Brumback credited Madigan with developing "an excellent plan" that maximizes the company's resources.
The new management lineup is as follows:
? James Dowdle, president and CEO of Tribune Broadcasting, takes charge of Tribune Media Operations as executive vice president and reports to Madigan.
? Robert Bosau, Tribune Publishing vice president/administration, takes the new position of Tribune New Media executive vice president and general manager and reports to Madigan.
? Joseph Cantrell, president of Tribune Co.'s Newport News, Va., Daily Press and former Orlando Sentinel general manager, becomes Tribune Publishing executive vice president in charge of the company's six dailies and its Tribune Media Services syndicate. He reports to Dowdle.
? Dennis FitzSimons, president of Tribune's TV operations, becomes executive vice president of Tribune Broadcasting and its eight TV stations, Tribune News Network, Tribune Entertainment Co., six radio stations, Tribune Radio Network and the recently-acquired Farm Journal.
Bosau's new media group includes Compton's, Contemporary Books, the educational publisher Wright Group and the on-line information services Chicago Online and Destination Florida.
He also manages minority interests in the Peapod electronic shopping service, REIC real estate information service, StarSight Telecast on-screen TV listings and the computer information service America Online.
Plans call for the new media unit to build a lab.
The reorganization is the latest in a series over two or three years. First, Tribune Newspapers was created as a unit under Madigan. Within a year or so, it was renamed Tribune Publishing after it took over Compton's and Contemporary Books.
?(Dowdle) [Photo]
?(Cantrell) [Photo]