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Tribune Broadcasting
Names John Vitanovec Regional Vice President
CHICAGO, February 17, 2003 --
Tribune Broadcasting today named veteran broadcast executive
John Vitanovec as regional vice president of Tribune Television.
Currently vice president/general manager of WGN-TV (WB9), Chicago,
Vitanovec will add responsibility for overseeing the operations
of WXIN-TV (FOX59) and WTTV-TV (WB4), the company’s two-station
cluster in Indianapolis, Ind., and WXMI-TV (FOX17) in Grand
Rapids, Mich.
"John is a highly
successful general manager with more than four years of experience
running one of our most complex operations, WGN-TV,"
said Patrick Mullen, Tribune Broadcasting president. "His
strong background in station operations, finance and community
involvement, make him the perfect fit to oversee our operations
in Indianapolis and Grand Rapids."
Vitanovec has served as vice president and
general manager at WGN Television since May 1999. From 1997
to 1999, Vitanovec was vice president/director of operations
for Tribune Broadcasting. Previously, he was vice president
and general manager of WLVI-TV, Boston.
"I look forward to working with the management
of our stations in Indianapolis and Grand Rapids. Both are
well-managed properties," said Vitanovec. "I am
excited to be a part of these important Tribune stations."
Born March 8, 1957, Vitanovec holds a bachelor’s degree
from DePaul University and a master’s degree in business
administration from the University of Chicago. He serves as
chairman of the annual Bozo Ball, which benefits Chicago’s
Off the Street Club and WGN-TV Children’s Charities,
and is a member of the United Way Chicago Council and the
Advisory Committee of the McCormick Tribune Foundation. He
is also a member of the Board of Trustees at DePaul University.
He also holds Board positions with the Peggy Notebaert Nature
Museum and the Northwestern Media Management Center of Northwestern
University.
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Tribune Broadcasting owns and operates
24 television stations concentrated in major markets and Superstation
WGN on national cable. The acquisition of two additional stations,
KPLR-TV, St. Louis, and KWPB-TV, Portland, Ore., will be completed
in early 2003, pending regulatory approvals. The group’s
combined reach is more than 80 percent of U.S. television
households. Investment interests include The WB Television
Network (22%) and TV Food Network (31%). Los Angeles-based
Tribune Entertainment develops and distributes first-run television
programming for the Tribune station group and for national
syndication. Tribune Broadcasting also owns and operates Chicago’s
WGN-AM and the Chicago Cubs baseball team .
TRIBUNE (NYSE:
TRB) is one of the country’s premier media companies,
operating businesses in broadcasting, publishing and on the
Internet. It reaches more than 80 percent of U.S. households,
and is the only media company with television stations, newspapers
and Web sites in the nation’s top three markets. In
publishing, Tribune operates 12 market-leading daily newspapers
such as the Los Angeles Times, Chicago Tribune and Newsday
plus a wide range of targeted publications including Spanish-language
newspapers. In broadcasting, Tribune properties include 24
television stations and Superstation WGN on national cable.
The acquisition of two additional stations, KPLR-TV, St. Louis,
and KWPB-TV, Portland, Ore., will be completed in early 2003,
pending regulatory approvals. These publishing and broadcasting
interests are complemented by high-traffic news and information
Web sites in 18 of the nation’s top 30 markets.
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