Business

CHICAGO (CBS) ― Real estate giant Sam Zell took over the Tribune Thursday, and wasted no time getting to work. He made it clear that change is in the works.

Tribune Co.'s $8.2 billion buyout closed Thursday after an 8 1/2-month wait to secure final approval and financing, taking the ailing newspaper and TV company private under the control of the billionaire Zell.

Zell, who previously agreed to assume the role of chairman when the deal was complete, also became CEO and made immediate changes to the board of directors and senior management.

"We have a tremendous opportunity to take the great brands of Tribune Company, and the enormous talent within the company, to a new level," Zell said in a prepared statement. "Tribune, along with the newspaper industry, has been mired in its monopolistic origins, and we intend to create a fresh, entrepreneurial culture that is fast and nimble, and which rewards innovation."

Zell said the goal is to provide "a sustainable, relevant product for our customers and communities."

"It's all about the three Rs: relevance, revenue and respect, not necessarily in that order," Zell said.

Tribune's stock was to cease trading at the market's close on Thursday.

The Tribune Company empire includes nine daily newspapers led by the Chicago Tribune and the Los Angeles Times; 23 television stations nationwide like Chicago's Channel 9 and local radio powerhouse WGN -- all now part of the privately held media conglomerate headed by real estate magnate Sam Zell.

"I think the message is there's a new sheriff in town and the name of the game is excellence," Zell said Thursday.

He led the $8.2 billion dollar buyout of the Tribune Company that closed Thursday, investing $315 million form his own fortune. Beyond the already announced sale of the Chicago Cubs, Zell said there are no immediate plans to put any of the company's assets on the auction block.

"I'm a season ticket holder, so I'm optimistic the new owner will freeze ticket prices, after Tribune's big increase this year," said one Cubs fan.

"As long as they don't leave the city, not a problem," another fan said.

But selling the Cubs and Wrigley Field will help Tribune pay off some of its $13 billion in total debt.

"In the end, this is a business," Zell said. "And my goal is to run it like a business."

He indicated a culture shift at Tribune that will move away from what Zell calls the "arrogance of journalism."

"We are going to basically start from the bottom and rebuild in a virtual fashion the company," Zell said.

Tribune has been known as a conservative company, but Zell is making headlines by his appointments to major positions. They include Randy Michaels, a former shock jock impresario with Clear Channel Communications, to head up broadcast and interactive interests, and Hollywood power agent Jeffry Berg, who represents stars like Beyonce and Denzel Washington, to the board of directors.

These are people who have significant media exposure or experience," Zell said. "They tend to be non-conventional thinkers. They have enormous track records of success."

Zell hinted at a more prominent role for superstation WGN, and greater synergy between Tribune's Web-based enterprises and its newspapers to make the company stronger.

"I am sick and tried of listening to everyone talk about and commiserate over the end of newspapers," Zell said. "They aren't ended and they're not going to end."

But when it comes to change, Zell won't point to where he'll start.

"Whether it be making our superchannel much more successful and much more aggressive and much bigger or making the L.A. Times a lot better, or whether it be taking our interactive assets and maximizing their value," he said.

Aside from the expected Cubs sell-off, no one knows exactly what cutbacks, asset sales or other moves to expect from the fiery Zell - known as a brilliant investor and bargain-hunter in industries other than media. But even a man who long ago dubbed himself "The Grave Dancer" for his ability to revive moribund properties faces a tough task in trying to turn around the nation's second-largest newspaper publisher, its revenues still in free fall.

Zell will be in command at Tribune Tower as the investor who put the debt-heavy deal together and will head the board of directors.

Setting the stage for the transition, the company said Wednesday that Dennis FitzSimons will step down as chairman and CEO once the deal closes and will leave the company at the end of the year.

FitzSimons, whose five-year tenure coincided with a historic downturn in the newspaper industry that forced the company's sale, expressed optimism for Tribune's future and hope that the shifting of its resources to focus on the Internet will pay off.

He cited as strengths the recent performance of the TV group, cable superstation WGN, and the company's sizable stakes in the Food Network and the CareerBuilder online classified advertising venture.

Any of those assets could be candidates for Zell to dispose of to raise cash, along with the Cubs, Wrigley Field and the Chicago-based Comcast Sports Channel, which are targeted to be sold in the first half of 2008.

"What I think is going to happen is the transformation will continue, and I believe - and clearly Sam believes - that there is tremendous value in these assets going forward," FitzSimons said in an interview.

The Zell-Tribune deal cleared its last regulatory hurdle when the FCC voted Tuesday to revise its media ownership rules and allow broadcasters in the nation's 20 largest media markets to also own a newspaper.

CBS 2's Pamela Jones, Vince Gerasole and the Associated Press contributed to this report.

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