Tribune Co. picks Michaels as chief operating officer

By Phil Rosenthal | Tribune reporter

10:36 PM EDT, May 7, 2008

Randy Michaels, who has been Tribune Co.'s chief executive of interactive and broadcasting since December, has been promoted to chief operating officer of Tribune Co., the company announced Wednesday.

Michaels, a former head of Clear Channel Communications' massive radio division, will oversee all aspects of Tribune Co.'s publishing, broadcasting and interactive operations.

Chicago Tribune Publisher Scott Smith and Los Angeles Times Publisher David Hiller, who had reported directly to Tribune Co. Chairman and Chief Executive Sam Zell, now will report to Michaels. Newsday Publisher Tim Knight will continue to report to Smith.

Michaels already had oversight of Tribune Co.'s six smallest daily newspapers. And his handpicked heads of broadcasting and interactive, Ed Wilson and Marc Chase, respectively, will continue to report to him.

"The advertising environment is tough, the real estate crisis is affecting our classifieds something awful, and people are saying 'newspapers are dead,' " Michaels said in a statement. "So naturally I want to take on even more responsibility for our print business."

Michaels said that despite the business problems afflicting traditional media of late, Tribune Co. has "world-class brands with unlimited potential" and "by using the resources and support of these amazing brands, we can also build tremendously strong interactive businesses. There is a lot of upside here."

philrosenthal@tribune.com