Tribune Co. Files for Bankruptcy

NEW YORK (AP) -- Media conglomerate Tribune Co. filed for bankruptcy protection Monday, as the owner of the Chicago Tribune, the Los Angeles Times, the Chicago Cubs and other properties tries to deal with $13 billion in debt.

Flags wave along Michigan Ave. Bridge outside the Chicago Tribune Tower in Chicago in this, April...

Flags wave along Michigan Ave. Bridge outside the Chicago Tribune Tower in Chicago in this, April 12, 2006, file photo.Tribune Co., owner of the Los Angeles Times and Chicago Tribune, other newspapers and the Chicago Cubs and Wrigley Field, has hired financial advisers ahead of a possible filing for bankruptcy-court protection, according to reports on Sunday.

(Charles Rex Arbogast, file/AP Photo)

Severe reductions in advertising this year because of the recession have put pressure on the Chicago-based company. Most of its debt comes from the complex transaction in which the company was taken private by real estate mogul Sam Zell last year.

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Although the next major principal payment isn't due until June, analysts say Tribune has been in danger of missing lender-imposed financial targets.

Tribune made the filing Monday in bankruptcy court in Delaware.

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