Murdoch joins Chandler bid for Tribune (and L.A. Times): report

[Newsjock]

http://www.chicagobusiness.com/cgi-bin/news.pl?id=23598

Media magnate Rupert Murdoch has joined the bidding process for Tribune Co. by teaming up with one of the bidders, according to a report.

Mr. Murdoch, founder of News Corp., wants a stake in Tribune Co.’s Newsday publication and is reportedly working with the Chandler family on a offer to buy Tribune Co., according to a Tuesday report on the Financial Times’ Web site.

Note: Among Tribune Co.'s holdings is the Los Angeles Times.

[blm]

1. BAD NEWS. Dems better get overturning FCC ruling for media expansion on the agenda

and do it FAST.

[murielm99]

2. Oh, shit!

Does that mean he will own the Cubs?

Cubs fans aren't gonna stand for that.

Does anyone remember when Royko refused to work for Murdoch? He switched papers, and called Murdoch "The Alien." It was great.

[aggiesal]

8. I'll agree with that. I'm a Cubs fan and I don't want ...

Murdoch doing to the Cubs, what he did with the Dodgers.

[lapfog_1]

3. Can't this creep just fuck off and die already?

and let's hope that his sons and daughters fight like cats and dogs over the media empire!

[BadGimp]

4. This is a masterstroke move for Rupert and the Right

If they succeed they can domainate the media messaging among the Southern California population.

Scarry stuff indeed.

I live in LA and read the time. It has gone steadily right in it's slant.

Pure Evil

[fujiyama]

6. The LA Times has gone to shit

in a very short amount of time. They fired Schaefer (I think that was his last name), who was a fierce critic of Bush and the Iraq war, and replaced him with Jonah Goldberg. Just recently they added D'Souza I think. Disgusting.

On the plus side, these papers have decreasing influence. Fewer people are reading them. Still, it would be good to have a few credible newspapers left.

[eppur_se_muova]

5. Murdoch's Tribune bid (Sky News)

Rupert Murdoch is reported to have joined the Chandler family in bidding for the Tribune Company, one of the biggest newspaper groups in the United States.

The Tribune owns the the Los Angeles Times and the Chicago Tribune, as well as 23 TV stations and the Chicago Cubs baseball team.

The Chandlers want to privatise the Tribune's newspaper assets and sell its broadcasting business.

Their bid values the company at $9.6 billion.

Mr Murdoch is reported to have only a small stake in the bid, however there is suspicion about Mr Murdoch's motives, as he's not generally known as a minority shareholder.

http://www.skynews.com.au/business/story.asp?id=151195

[Say_What]

7. Murdoch has owned a lot of media in the USSA for decades including Fux Noooz...

this will only add to his holdings:

<clips>

1980s

1980 - News Corp. forms

1981 - Takes over Times and Sunday Times in London

1982 - Buys the Boston Herald-American and changes the name to Boston Herald. News Corp. also buys Australian book publisher Angus & Robertson

1983 - Sky, the first satellite TV channel launches. News Corp. buys Chicago Sun Times for $90 million

1984 - Murdoch and News Corp. make take over bid of Warner Brothers but are thwarted

1985 - Murdoch becomes United States citizen in order to purchase more American media outlets. Sells Village Voice. News Corp. buys TCF Holdings Inc., parent company of Twentieth Century Fox Film. In a related deal, News Corp. purchases seven television stations from Metromedia for $1.55 billion (WNEW-TV, New York; KTTV-TV, Los Angeles; WFLD-TV, Chicago; WTTG-TV, Washington, DC; KNBN-TV, Dallas; KRIV-TV, Houston, WFXT-TV in Boston. These stations reach 22% of all television households in the United States. These two deals help to form backbone of a new broadcast television network

1986 - Fox Broadcasting Company is established. News Corp. moves its UK newspaper printing operations to new plant in Wapping. A protracted labor strike ensues. Murdoch sells Chicago Sun-Times

1987 - Takes control Melbourne Herald and Weekly Times, Australia's largest media group. News Corp. becomes world's largest newspaper publisher. News Corp. also purchases the South China Morning Post, UK newspaper Today and United States book publisher Harper and Row. Murdoch now controlled approximately sixty percent of Australian newspapers and thirty-five percent of UK newspapers

1988 - Purchases Triangle Publications (main holding TV Guide) from Walter Annenberg for $3 billion. Sells off New York Post

1989 - Harper Collins is formed after newly acquired William Collins Publishing is merged with Harper and Row. The Simpsons becomes Fox Network's first hit program. Satellite television provider Sky TV is launched.

1990s

1990 - - BSkyB is formed after Sky merges with British Satellite Broadcasting. Accumulation of large debts leads News Corp. down the road to bankruptcy. Citibank, the company's prime lender, takes active role in saving News Corp.

1991 - News Corp. undergoes massive sell off to help lower corporate debt. The properties sold off include: New York, Seventeen, Soap Opera Digest, Soap Opera Weekly, Premiere, and Daily Racing Form

1992 - Buys broadcasting rights for the Premier League, an Australian rugby league, for $300 million

1993 - Gains controlling interest in Asian satellite television service, Star TV. Acquires the right to broadcast NFL games. The move shakes up American sports television as it leaves the NBC network without football coverage. Obtaining the NFL broadcasting rights costs over $1 billion but seen as a necessary investment to help promote fledging Fox Network. News Corp. reacquires New York Post

1996 - HarperCollins sells its education unit to Pearson

1997 - Acquires Los Angeles Dodgers and Dodgers stadium from the O'Malley family for $311 million

1998 - Orders HarperCollins to squash the memoirs of Chris Patten, Hong Kong's last governor and vocal critic of the Communist China government

1999 - Acquires William Morrow and Avon Books in a deal with Hearst

2000 - Present

2001 - Sells stake in Fox Family Network to Disney. Duopolies established in Los Angeles, Minneapolis, Washington D.C., and Houston

2002 - Duopolies established in Chicago and Orlando

2003 - Puts LA Dodgers up for sale. Spends $6.6 billion for stake in Hughes Electronic, the parent company of DirecTV

2004 - Los Angeles Dodgers sold to real estate developer Frank McCourt for $430 million

http://www.cjr.org/_deprecate/newscorp-timeline.asp