By: Jennifer Saba Dennis FitzSimons, the chairman, president, and CEO of the Tribune Co., told analysts at a year-end media review that he had very positive feelings about the company?s future, despite circulation scandals that erupted this year at its two New York-area papers and a steep decline in circ at the Los Angeles Times.
Like heads of several other top newspaper companies, he hedged a bit on projections for 2005, causing one analyst to ask if he could offer ?guidance? on the rumored trading of baseball slugger Sammy Sosa of the Tribune-owned Chicago Cubs, often mentioned in the current steroid uproar. Amid laughs, Fitzsimons said his guidance would be that the Cubs would likely keep him.
He called the circulation inflation at the New York papers Newsday and Hoy unethical and wholly out of character for Tribune as a company, but said executives had now reached settlements with 20,000 advertisers at those papers, including all of their top ten advertisers.
The company announced today that Hoy in Chicago and Los Angeles would switch to free distribution. The New York edition will continue to be paid circulation.
FitzSimons also said the company would focus more on boosting its stock price than in aggressively seeking acquisitions.
Other Tribune officials said that among their top priorities are to increase home delivery, limit circ in the ?other? category, and restore ad and revenue ?momentum? at the Los Angeles Times.
One analyst in the audience noted that this last part would certainly be difficult, given that circ declines make it hard for the Times to raise ad rates.
CORRECTION: An earlier version of this article reported that the New York and Los Angeles editions of Hoy will move to free circulation. In fact, New York's circulation will remain paid; Los Angeles and Chicago will switch to free distribution.
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