Publishing Revenues Up 1.4%; Television Revenues Up 1.0%

CHICAGO, Nov. 16 /PRNewswire-FirstCall/ -- Tribune Company (NYSE: TRB) today reported its summary of revenues and newspaper advertising volume for period 10, ended Oct. 24, 2004. Consolidated revenues for the period were $455 million, up 2.3 percent from last year's $445 million.

Publishing revenues in October were $329 million, 1.4 percent higher than last year's $325 million. Advertising revenues increased 3.4 percent to $261 million, compared with $252 million in October 2003. Total advertising inches were up 4 percent, while preprint pieces increased 20 percent.

Retail, national and classified advertising revenues include both print and interactive revenues for 2004 and 2003.

    -- Retail advertising revenues increased 4.7 percent due to strength in
       the electronics, home furnishings and other retail categories,
       partially offset by weakness in department stores.  Preprint revenues,
       which are principally included in retail, were up 9 percent. Full run
       retail linage was up 4 percent in the period.
    -- National advertising revenues decreased 0.6 percent as weakness in the
       movies/entertainment, travel/resorts and auto manufacturers categories
       was partially offset by strength in the hi-tech category.  Full run
       national volume was up 4 percent.
    -- Classified advertising revenues rose 4.9 percent due to gains in help
       wanted and real estate, which were each up 12 percent.  Auto classified
       advertising fell 6 percent.  Full run classified volume was down
       5 percent in the period.  Interactive revenues, which are primarily
       included in classified, were $11 million, up 22 percent, due to
       strength in all categories.

Broadcasting and Entertainment group revenues in October rose 4.7 percent to $126 million, compared with $120 million last year. Television revenues increased 1.0 percent. Strength in telecom and education was partially offset by a decrease in movies. Radio/entertainment revenues rose 38.9 percent as baseball's regular season ran into period 10 this year.

This press release contains certain comments or forward-looking statements that are based largely on the Company's current expectations and are subject to certain risks, trends and uncertainties. Such comments and statements should be understood in the context of Tribune's publicly available reports filed with the SEC, including the most current annual 10-K report and quarterly 10-Q report, which contain a discussion of various factors that may affect the company's business. These factors could cause actual future performance to differ materially from current expectations. Tribune Company is not responsible for updating the information contained in this press release beyond the published date, or for changes made to this document by wire services or Internet service providers.

TRIBUNE (NYSE: TRB) is one of the country's top media companies, operating businesses in broadcasting and publishing. It reaches more than 80 percent of U.S. households and is the only media organization with television stations, newspapers and websites in the nation's top three markets. In publishing, Tribune operates 14 leading daily newspapers including the Los Angeles Times, Chicago Tribune, Newsday and Spanish-language Hoy, plus a wide range of targeted publications. The company's broadcasting group operates 26 television stations, Superstation WGN on national cable, Chicago's WGN-AM and the Chicago Cubs baseball team. Popular news and information websites complement Tribune's print and broadcast properties and extend the company's nationwide audience.

                                     TRIBUNE COMPANY
                              SUMMARY OF REVENUES (Unaudited)
                           For Period 10 Ended October 24, 2004
                                     (In thousands)

                    Period 10 (4 weeks)        Year-to-Date (43 weeks)
                     2004        2003      %       2004        2003       %
                 ----------  ----------  ---  -----------  -----------  ---
    Publishing
    ----------
     Advertising
       Retail    $  108,629  $  103,754  4.7  $ 1,072,576  $ 1,025,316  4.6
       National      64,350      64,770 (0.6)     636,452      623,558  2.1
       Classified    88,019      83,916  4.9      902,599      862,060  4.7
                 ----------  ----------       -----------  -----------
       Sub-Total    260,998     252,440  3.4    2,611,627    2,510,934  4.0
     Circulation     48,044      51,045 (5.9)     537,225      550,799 (2.5)
     Other           20,181      21,210 (4.9)     211,275      216,558 (2.4)
                 ----------  ----------       -----------  -----------
     Segment
      Total (A)(B)  329,223     324,695  1.4    3,360,127    3,278,291  2.5
                 ----------  ----------       -----------  -----------
    Broadcasting &
     Entertainment
    --------------
     Television (C) 109,450     108,380  1.0    1,110,631    1,078,124  3.0
     Radio/Enter.    16,495      11,879 38.9      226,509      213,735  6.0
                 ----------  ----------       -----------  -----------
     Segment
      Total (D)     125,945     120,259  4.7    1,337,140    1,291,859  3.5
                 ----------  ----------       -----------  -----------
    Consol.
     Rev. (E)    $  455,168  $  444,954  2.3  $ 4,697,267  $ 4,570,150  2.8
                 ==========  ==========       ===========  ===========

    (A) Interactive advertising revenues for 2004 and 2003 are included in the
        appropriate publishing categories.

    (B) Publishing revenues for 2003 have been reclassified to conform with
        the 2004 presentation.  There was no effect on total revenues.

    (C) Includes KPLR-TV, St. Louis and KWBP-TV, Portland, both acquired in
        March of 2003.  Excluding acquisitions, television revenues increased
        1.7% for the year-to-date.

    (D) Excluding acquisitions, broadcasting and entertainment revenues
        increased 2.4% for the year-to-date.

    (E) Excluding acquisitions, consolidated revenues increased 2.5% for the
        year-to-date.


                                     TRIBUNE COMPANY
                 SUMMARY OF NEWSPAPER ADVERTISING VOLUME (Unaudited)(A)
                           For Period 10 Ended October 24, 2004
                                     (In thousands)

                     Period 10 (4 weeks)        Year-to-Date (43 weeks)
                    2004        2003      %       2004        2003       %
                 ----------  ----------  ---  -----------  -----------  ---
    Full Run
    --------
    L.A. Times          185         197   (6)       1,981        2,100   (6)
    Chicago Tribune     188         200   (6)       1,830        1,835    -
    Newsday             128         134   (4)       1,304        1,277    2
    Other
     Dailies (B)      1,112       1,088    2       11,706       11,219    4
                 ----------  ----------       -----------  -----------
    Total             1,613       1,619    -       16,821       16,431    2
                 ==========  ==========       ===========  ===========

    Part Run
    --------
    L.A. Times          472         448    5        4,892        4,834    1
    Chicago Tribune     571         499   14        5,474        4,723   16
    Newsday             168         164    2        1,587        1,538    3
    Other
     Dailies (B)        507         482    5        5,181        5,051    3
                 ----------  ----------       -----------  -----------
    Total             1,718       1,593    8       17,134       16,146    6
                 ==========  ==========       ===========  ===========

    Total Advertising Inches
    ------------------------
    Full Run
      Retail            504         486    4        5,006        4,760    5
      National          331         317    4        3,267        3,104    5
      Classified        778         816   (5)       8,548        8,567    -
                 ----------  ----------       -----------  -----------
      Sub-Total       1,613       1,619    -       16,821       16,431    2
    Part Run          1,718       1,593    8       17,134       16,146    6
                 ----------  ----------       -----------  -----------
    Total             3,331       3,212    4       33,955       32,577    4
                 ==========  ==========       ===========  ===========

    Preprint Pieces
    ---------------
    L.A. Times      324,124     236,369   37    2,854,496    2,387,578   20
    Chicago
     Tribune        365,911     257,173   42    3,442,935    2,642,162   30
    Newsday         222,547     221,982    -    2,234,118    2,226,760    -
    Other
     Dailies (B)    320,576     310,986    3    3,221,645    3,080,131    5
                 ----------  ----------       -----------  -----------
    Total         1,233,158   1,026,510   20   11,753,194   10,336,631   14
                 ==========  ==========       ===========  ===========

    (A) Volume for 2003 has been modified to conform with the 2004
        presentation. Volume is based on preliminary internal data, which may
        be updated in subsequent reports.  Advertising volume is presented
        only for daily newspapers.

    (B) Other daily newspapers include The Baltimore Sun, South Florida Sun-
        Sentinel, Orlando Sentinel, The Hartford Courant, The Morning Call,
        Daily Press, The Advocate, Greenwich Time, Hoy, New York, Hoy, Chicago
        and Hoy, Los Angeles.

SOURCE  Tribune Company
    -0-                             11/16/2004
    /CONTACT:  Media, Gary Weitman, +1-312-222-3394 (Office), +1-312-222-1573
(Fax), gweitman@tribune.com , or Investors, Ruthellyn Musil, +1-312-222-3787
(Office), +1-312-222-1573 (Fax), rmusil@tribune.com , both of Tribune Company/
    /Web site:  http://www.tribune.com /
    (TRB)

CO:  Tribune Company
ST:  Illinois
IN:  PUB NET ENT
SU:  SLS

JR-AM 
-- CGTU009 --
4970 11/16/2004 06:00 EST http://www.prnewswire.com