Tribune Interactive to Provide Web Platform for Schurz Communications Media Properties

CHICAGO, April 8 /PRNewswire/ -- Tribune Interactive (TI) today announced it has signed an agreement to provide the digital platform for more than 60 newspaper, radio and television station websites owned by Schurz Communications.      

An elite service organization providing revenue-focused technology solutions for media companies across the country, TI offers a top-of-the-line toolset known as "Power to the Producers" or "P2P," blending power and performance with flexibility and freedom. Schurz plans to use the innovative platform to re-launch the websites of all of its media properties later this summer.

"Using P2P will be a significant forward step for Schurz," says Kerry Oslund, VP/Digital, Schurz Communications. "We're certain that a shared, common platform will let our publishing and broadcast partners collaborate better and compete more effectively in the online space. Tribune Interactive gives us exciting new ways to serve both clients and consumers."

Under the agreement, TI will provide Schurz with the digital technology, syndicated content and customer service necessary to power the company's newly enhanced websites. TI has a track record of success with P2P, having deployed it across more than 50 news and entertainment websites, including chicagotribune.com, latimes.com, wpix.com (New York), ktla.com (Los Angeles), as well as the television websites of Local TV LLC.

"The combination of P2P's technology, syndicated content, and TI's incredible customer support has made a big difference for our 19 television stations," said Steve Baron, VP/Interactive Content for LocalTV LLC. "Since we launched on this platform 13 months ago, we have shattered our audience records, growing monthly unique visitors by 35% and page views by 80%. The intuitive toolset has not only given us more to sell, but more time to sell it."

P2P is currently available to businesses individually or as part of an innovative suite of online platform and service solutions.

"We know the extraordinary demands of leveraging a syndicated network across multiple platforms and diverse media partnerships," says Marc Chase, President of Tribune Interactive. "These solutions have been painstakingly developed and tested to operate with maximum efficiency, whether yours is a breaking news website in a large metropolis or an FM radio station in a small town. We know our solutions work—after all, we're a client."

TRIBUNE is one of the country's leading multimedia companies, operating businesses in publishing, interactive and broadcasting. In publishing, Tribune's leading daily newspapers include the Los Angeles Times, Chicago Tribune, The Baltimore Sun, Sun Sentinel (South Florida), Orlando Sentinel, Hartford Courant, The Morning Call and Daily Press. The company's broadcasting group operates 23 television stations, WGN America on national cable and Chicago's WGN-AM. Popular news and information websites complement Tribune's print and broadcast properties and extend the company's nationwide audience. At Tribune we take what we do seriously and with a great deal of pride. We also value the creative spirit and nurture a corporate culture that doesn't take itself too seriously.

SCHURZ COMMUNICATIONS, INC. is a diversified privately-owned, nationwide communications company based in Mishawaka, IN. The company publishes eleven daily and eight weekly newspapers in medium and small markets with a combined circulation of nearly 225,000. It also publishes shopping publications in California, has ten television stations, owns thirteen radio stations and operates three others, two cable companies, a phone directory and a printing company.

SOURCE Tribune Company