Two radio guys in two countries take hold of two newspapers called Tribune

Michael Hedges January 7, 2008

Just as the old guard newspaper people digested Rupert Murdoch’s take over of Dow Jones and the Wall Street Journal, populating both with old guard newspaper people, the radio people slipped in the back door of the Tribune Company in the United States and La Tribune in France.

When billionaire developer Sam Zell took control of the Tribune Company one of his first hires was Randy Michaels to head the interactive and broadcast division. Michaels is loved, loathed, feared and followed by American radio broadcasters, depending on which side they faced. Alain Weill, owner of NextRadioTV and former General Manager of NRJ, faced down unions and critics to complete his take-over of La Tribune. What possibly could radio people know about newspapers?

Radio people know all about suffering the slings and arrows of advertisers, critics, experts and critical expert advertisers – not to forget newspapers - calling their medium ‘in decline.’

Also just before Christmas NextRadioTV CEO Alain Weill finalized his take-over of financial daily La Tribune from French luxury goods company LVMH Moet Hennessy Louis Vuitton. The sale was necessitated by LVMH’s purchase of Les Echos from Pearson. NextRadioTV owns radio channels BFM and RMC Info and TV channel BFM TV. Weill paid nothing for La Tribune, a symbolic one euro. His mandate is to cut the losses.

“We spoke ten years ago of radio’s decline. Today it’s back on its feet,” said Weill to Le Monde (December 25). “Newspapers today are obsessed with their survival and do not think enough about opportunities for development.”

If the term were not such an oxymoron, Alain Weill should be considered a French entrepreneur. In a country where media is overwhelmingly owned and controlled by the big, rich, powerful and connected he, along with mentor Jean Paul Baudecroux and SkyRock owner Pierre Bellanger, breaks with the traditional. Cutting his chops with Baudecroux’s NRJ, starting in sales and ending as NRJ Group Vice Chairman, Weill stunned French media watchers by venturing into ownership of the under-powered RMC radio network when NRJ had to spin it off in 2000. Then, he launched the business radio channel BFM, following with BFM TV. 

Everything Alain Weill and Randy Michaels have said since coming to their new projects points to the Web and leveraging newspapers brand strength for the changed media market. Weill said La Tribune’s staff must start working “50% for the Web and 50% for the paper. Not necessarily in time, but in their minds.”

In his first interview with a Chicago Tribune reporter after taking up the new job, Randy Michaels rattled off the names of a dozen Tribune-owned newspapers that could “do better.”

"There are some pretty obvious and unexploited opportunities," he said. "It's a little bit embarrassing that all media companies have made their Web sites and their Web efforts look too much like their traditional business."

Michaels and new Tribune Company owner Sam Zell have deep and strong roots. Zell financed the creation of the radio company Jacor, run by Michaels and Bobby Lawrence. Zell and others made a bundle of cash selling Jacor to Clear Channel, where Michaels became CEO. Michaels made his reputation on challenging every rule and competing with an aggressiveness unheard of in the – then – soft-sell US radio business. Similarities with Microsoft’s Steve Balmer – including the pranks – are spot on.

"We're gonna try a lot of different things," he says. "We'll get to see what works and see what doesn't."

Some people can walk up to the edge of an abyss, wiggle their toes over the side and content themselves at walking on the wild side of innovation. Randy Michaels, criticism notwithstanding, jumps over the edge with inventive abandon. While CEO of Clear Channel Radio he left other broadcasters agape saying he no longer had anything to learn from them.

The Clear Channel of Randy Michaels era was the notable US media consolidator, adhering to the time honored business principles of the decline phase. Hence, Michaels’ almost instantaneous creation of The Other Company, a wholly owned Tribune Company subsidiary set up to provide management services to Tribune-owned television stations and the Local TV LLC TV stations (once owned by the New York Times Company), which just happened to include the eight stations very recently purchased from FOX/News Corporation. Randy Michaels just happened to join the new Tribune Company from Local TV where he was CEO and the aforementioned Bobby Lawrence is Chairman.

“Tribune and Local TV expect to realize significant savings in management, technology, and other overhead costs,” said Michaels in a prepared statement. “The management company will also look towards serving potential third-party-owned stations in the future.” It’s classic Randy Michaels! Instantly the Tribune Company manages 40 TV stations in 33 US markets and has leveragability over equipment manufacturers and content suppliers. In terms of revenue, it’s now the 4th largest US television broadcaster.

Unlike the collective mind of the newspaper old guard, these new investors are clear eyed in the New Year. Newspapers have accumulated brand values that can be leveraged into new media, where the money is. The newspaper old guard still worships at the feet of Mr. Murdoch who promises to pour in lots of money, chase the traditional ad model and merrily do everything else that got them into the state they’re in. Sam Zell summed up his plan quite well: “We're going to have some fun.”