Tribune Executives Report Strong Growth Strategy At Media Conference

Market Wire, 20050229

At yesterday's Mid-Year Media Review in New York City, Tribune Company executives discussed the company's aggressive media growth strategy of serving customers through broadcasting, publishing and interactive in major markets, following its recent merger with The Times Mirror Company.

"The Times Mirror transaction solidified our position as a leading media company," said Dennis J. FitzSimons, Tribune executive vice president. "Tribune today reaches nearly 80 percent of U.S. households daily. It is the only media company with a television-newspaper-interactive combination in the top three markets-- New York, Los Angeles and Chicago--and is the largest media company in four of the nation's five most populous states of California, New York, Illinois and Florida."

At the meeting, Tribune announced that it is exploring strategic alternatives, including the possible sale, for Times Mirror Magazines, one of the world's leading publishers of special interest and leisure-oriented magazines. Tribune said on June 26 that it will sell Tribune Education to The McGraw-Hill Companies for approximately $635 million in cash, subject to certain adjustments, and will use the proceeds of the sale primarily to reduce debt. Tribune expects to complete the education group transaction by August and the sales of Times Mirror Magazines and Jeppesen by the end of this year. Tribune said on April 28 that it is exploring strategic alternatives, including a possible sale, for Jeppesen, the world's leading provider of flight information services.

Donald C. Grenesko, senior vice president/finance and administration, reported on Tribune's strong financial platform for growth. "With continued cost reductions, increases in incremental cash flow and divesting of non-core assets, Tribune is well positioned to increase shareholder value," said Grenesko. "A key part of our merger strategy is growing cash flow, which we will use to reduce debt, make opportunistic acquisitions--especially in broadcasting--and continue our share repurchase program."

Grenesko reported that Tribune expects full-year consolidated revenue to be in the range of $5 billion and EBITDA to be about $1.5 billion. In 2001, the company anticipates strong earnings per share growth of at least 20 percent, incremental cash flow to increase by $125 million and consolidated operating cash flow to grow 1 to 2 percent faster than its historic growth rate.

FitzSimons also reported on the broadcasting group's significant growth. He cited several contributors, including major-market station acquisitions, operating efficiencies achieved through station clusters in major markets, the strong performance of The WB, the WGN Superstation and morning and prime-time news.

"We're on track for a great second quarter and are encouraged by good pacing in the third quarter," said FitzSimons.

Jack Fuller, Tribune Publishing president, reported on the accelerated growth opportunities for Tribune and progress on the merger integration, including operating improvements and cost savings. He also discussed the launch of Tribune Media Net to increase national advertising opportunities and the launch of Tribune Classified Services to increase local market share of classifieds.

"The changing shape of the consolidating media landscape makes national scale important," said Fuller. "We are now much better positioned to capitalize on two of the fastest-growing markets today--national advertising and online services."

For a complete transcript of Tribune's Mid-Year Media Review presentation, visit www.tribune.com.

Tribune (NYSE: TRB) is a leading media company with businesses in 23 major U.S. markets, including 18 of the top 30. Through its television and radio broadcasting, publishing and interactive operations, Tribune reaches nearly 80 percent of U.S. households daily. Tribune Ventures is an industry leader in venture partnerships with new-media and technology companies. Tribune has $6 billion in annual revenues and more than 30,000 employees. A Fortune 500 company in 2000, Tribune, for the third straight year, ranked No. 1 among its industry peers in Fortune magazine's list of most- admired companies in America.

Tribune Broadcasting owns and operates 22 major market television stations, including national superstation WGN-TV, and reaches more than 75 percent of U.S. television households. The company has interests in The WB Television Network (25%) and the TV Food Network (29%). Tribune also owns and operates four radio stations, including WGN-AM in Chicago and three stations in Denver. Tribune Entertainment develops and distributes first-run television programming for the Tribune station group and for national syndication. In addition, the company owns the Chicago Cubs baseball team.

Tribune Publishing is the third-largest U.S. newspaper group in circulation. The company comprises 11 market-leading newspapers: the Los Angeles Times; Chicago Tribune; Newsday, serving Nassau and Suffolk counties on Long Island, N.Y., and the borough of Queens, N.Y.; The Baltimore Sun; Sun-Sentinel, serving South Florida; The Orlando Sentinel; The Hartford Courant; The Morning Call, serving Eastern Pennsylvania's Lehigh Valley; Daily Press, serving the Virginia Peninsula; The (Stamford) Advocate and Greenwich Time, both serving Connecticut's Fairfield County. Tribune Media Services is a leading provider of entertainment lists and syndicated news and information to print and electronic media. Tribune Publishing also is involved in video and audio publishing initiatives, including two 24-hour cable news channels: CLTV News in Chicago and Central Florida News 13 (News 13), a partnership with Time Warner Communications in Orlando.