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Tribune Annual Meeting Held in Chicago
Shareholders Re-elect
Board Members, Ratify Auditors, Recognize Outstanding
Journalism and Employee Contributions
Board Declares $.18 Per Share Quarterly Dividend
CHICAGO,
May 2, 2006 -- Tribune Company
(NYSE:TRB) executives today reviewed financial performance
and business strategy at the company’s annual shareholders’ meeting
in Chicago.
"As the number of national advertising
options increases," said
Dennis FitzSimons, Tribune chairman, president and chief
executive officer, "the
ability of our local newspapers and television stations
to deliver large local audiences remains a distinct advantage
and a solid foundation for growth."
FitzSimons pointed to the company’s success on the
Internet and said Tribune would continue growing its interactive
businesses. "In the first quarter of 2006, our collection
of newspaper and other websites drew an average of nearly
15 million unique visitors per month -- up
32 percent. Revenues are growing, too. In 2006, interactive
will represent over 6 percent of publishing ad revenues.
Over the next three years we intend to double that number
to 12 percent."
Don Grenesko, Tribune chief financial officer, reviewed
the company’s
financial performance and highlighted the redeployment
of capital resources to areas that generate the most
revenue. "Improving our cost structure in certain areas
is enabling us to invest in new products and technology
that will generate top line growth," he
said.
The meeting also honored the efforts of Tribune journalists
and employees, paying particular tribute to the news
coverage provided during last fall’s
devastating hurricanes. "When Katrina, Rita, and Wilma
ravaged Florida and the Gulf Coast, our employees did an
extraordinary job under the worst of circumstances," said
FitzSimons. He thanked employees for their dedication and
sacrifice during the storms, and recognized the staff of WGNO-TV in New
Orleans for keeping the community informed in the aftermath of the hurricane.
The company also announced the winners of its highest honors, the Tribune
Management Award and Tribune Values Award at the meeting.
- Tribune Management Award -- Earl Maucker, senior vice
president and editor of the South Florida Sun-Sentinel,
for his leadership in helping to strengthen the newspaper’s relationships
with its readers through solid, innovative journalism.
- Tribune Values Award -- A nine-person team
from the Los Angeles Times and Tribune Interactive
responsible for creating and launching TheEnvelope.com,
a new entertainment news and information site.
Team members included: Rob Barrett, general manager of the Times interactive
group; Richard Benjamin, Tribune Interactive/technology team; Juliana
Jaoudi, Times managing director/sales and marketing; Jason Oberfest, Times
director/product strategy; Scott Robson, executive producer/Tribune Interactive;
Joel Sappell, Times executive editor/multimedia; Mark Sennott, Tribune
Interactive/technology team; Clint Stephenson, art director/Tribune Interactive;
and Mickie Sullivan, Times director/entertainment advertising.
In other business at the meeting, shareholders re-elected
Tribune board members Betsy Holden, Robert Morrison, William Stinehart,
and Dennis FitzSimons to three-year terms. Shareholders also ratified
the selection of PricewaterhouseCoopers as the company’s independent
accountants for 2006. Shareholders defeated a proposal requiring board
members to be elected annually.
At its regularly scheduled meeting earlier in the
day, Tribune’s
board of directors declared a quarterly dividend of $.18
per share on common stock of the company. The dividend will be paid
on June 8, 2006 to shareholders of record at the close of business on
May 25, 2006.
The board also elected Michael Silver vice president/corporate
development. Since joining Tribune in 1976 as a reporter, Silver has
served in a variety of positions in publishing and broadcasting with
the company. He was most recently director/emerging technologies for
the development group, and will continue to be responsible for evaluating
business opportunities that cut across all lines of Tribune’s
businesses.
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TRIBUNE (NYSE:TRB) is one of the country’s
top media companies, operating businesses in publishing and
broadcasting. It reaches more than 80 percent of U.S. households
and is the only media organization with newspapers, television
stations and websites in the nation’s top three markets.
In publishing, Tribune operates 11 leading daily newspapers
including the Los Angeles Times, Chicago Tribune and Newsday,
plus a wide range of targeted publications such as Spanish-language
Hoy. The company’s broadcasting group operates 26 television
stations, Superstation WGN on national cable, Chicago’s
WGN-AM and the Chicago Cubs baseball team. Popular news and
information websites complement Tribune’s print and
broadcast properties and extend the company’s nationwide
audience. |
