CHICAGO, April 13 /PRNewswire-FirstCall/ -- Tribune Company today issued the following statement regarding the decision of the Federal Communications Commission to grant the company a temporary waiver of the newspaper/broadcast cross-ownership rule as it pertains to Tribune's ownership of WTXX-TV and The Hartford Courant:

"Tribune is pleased that the FCC has granted its request for a temporary waiver of the newspaper/broadcast cross-ownership rule as it relates to its television station WTXX-TV and The Hartford Courant until at least April 1, 2007.

We are also pleased that the commission recognized Tribune's service to the public through its ownership of WTXX. The ruling reads in part, 'Tribune has delivered on every public interest benefit it identified in its initial application to acquire WTXX ... Given Tribune's record of enhanced service to the public, and its stated plans to continue and expand such service in the future, we expect that Tribune will continue to invest in the station and expand programming and services available to viewers.'

Tribune will share today's FCC order with the federal district court in Hartford tomorrow, as the court considers Tribune's compliance with the commission's media ownership rules."

TRIBUNE (NYSE: TRB) is one of the country's top media companies, operating businesses in publishing and broadcasting. It reaches more than 80 percent of U.S. households and is the only media organization with newspapers, television stations, and websites in the nation's top three markets. In publishing, Tribune operates 11 leading daily newspapers including the Los Angeles Times, Chicago Tribune and Newsday, plus a wide range of targeted publications such as Spanish-language Hoy. 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.

SOURCE  Tribune Company
    -0-                             04/13/2005
    /CONTACT:  Media Contact, Gary Weitman, VP-Corporate Communications,
+1-312-222-3394, gweitman@tribune.com, or Investor Contact, Ruthellyn Musil,
SVP-Corporate Relations, +1-312-222-3787, rmusil@tribune.com/
    /Web site:  http://www.tribune.com /
    (TRB)

CO:  Tribune Company
ST:  Illinois
IN:  ENT MLM CPR TVN PUB
SU:  LAW

AS
-- NYW213 --
9502 04/13/2005 20:57 EDT http://www.prnewswire.com