Tribune Co., owner of LA Times and KTLA, splits into two companies

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The Los Angeles Times’ corporate parent, the Tribune Company, is spinning off its struggling newspaper unit into a separate company. That frees the media conglomerate to focus on its TV and Internet properties.

The new Tribune Publishing Company would include the L.A. Times, the Chicago Tribune, and six other daily papers. Until now, Tribune had appeared to be taking steps to unload the newspapers in a private sale, and several possible buyers had expressed interest, including conservative industrialists Charles and David Koch and L.A. philanthropist Eli Broad.

Even with the spinoff, the papers reportedly could still be sold.

KCRW’s Steve Chiotakis discussed the move and what it means for the Tribune Company and the L.A. Times with Paul Sweeney, senior media analyst at Bloomberg.