Tribune Co. CFO Defends Millions in Bonuses for Top Managers

[Omaha Steve]

http://broadcastunionnews.blogspot.com/2009/09/tribune-co-cfo-defends-millions-in.html

Sunday, September 27, 2009

WILMINGTON, Del. Still mired in Chapter 11 protection, the Tribune Co. said Friday it needs authority to dole out up to $70 million in bonuses as motivation for top managers working in a difficult environment for the media industry.

Testifying before a federal bankruptcy judge, Chief Financial Officer Chandler Bigelow III said the bonuses would help "incentivize our key managers to battle all of the intense challenges that unfortunately our local media businesses are facing."

He noted that Tribune's advertising revenue in publishing is down 29 percent compared with last year, and broadcasting revenue is off 23 percent.

Tribune, which owns the Los Angeles Times, Chicago Tribune, The Sun of Baltimore and other dailies, along with 23 TV stations, filed for bankruptcy protection in December because of dwindling advertising revenues and a crushing debt load of $13 billion. Much of that debt was amassed when real estate mogul Sam Zell took the company private in 2007.

Tribune properties across the country have undergone cost cuts, including layoffs.

The Washington-Baltimore Newspaper Guild, which represents employees of the Sun, considers the bonuses unwarranted. The Guild is joined in its objection by two Baltimore-based Teamsters locals and by the Newspaper Guild of New York, which represents 29 employees at television station WPIX.

FULL story at link.