Posted by chicagomedia.org on November 16, 2007 at 11:18:39:
(From Feder.)
If buying the Cubs is a little too expensive for you, there's another Chicago institution you might be able to pick up in a Tribune Co. fire sale.
The prospect of top-rated news/talk WGN-AM (720) going on the block moved a step closer to reality this week with news that FCC chief Kevin Martin has proposed the sale as a condition of allowing Tribune Co. to own both WGN-Channel 9 and its newspaper here under Sam Zell.
Tom Langmyer, vice president and general manager of WGN, declined to comment Thursday. But he previously testified to the FCC that forcing a sale could rob the station of its unique localism after 83 years in Trib hands.
Industry sources estimated that WGN, which led the market in billing $48.4 million last year, could fetch close to $300 million.
"WGN Radio is like some amazing ride on Navy Pier that's been there for decades, and everybody grew up with and enjoyed," said Tom Taylor, news editor of Radio-Info.com. "But if it got sold and the new owner had to pay a lot of money for it, you'd wonder if all the bells and whistles would still be there."
How significant would such a deal be? Says Taylor: "There's nothing like WGN in any other major market -- certainly not with the variety of programming and the size of the payroll. ... It is one of the things that makes Chicago special, and you'd worry that an out-of-town owner might not understand all the things that make it tick."
As previously noted here, one company that would be an ideal new owner of WGN is Bonneville International, the Salt Lake City-based blue chip parent of three Chicago FM music stations, including hot adult-contemporary WTMX-FM (101.9).