The Entertainment Products division of Tribune Media Services (TMS) is going to become a free-standing operation, with the rest of TMS being folded into the company’s newspaper operations.
The Entertainment Products division is described as “a global leader in entertainment navigation and the provider of industry-leading databases of television, movie and celebrity information to thousands of companies. It will operate as a stand-alone business and be part of Tribune Company’s portfolio of digital and other non-traditional media assets.
The rest of TMS, the News & Features division, which syndicates content to a broad array of print and online customers, will be integrated with Tribune Publishing’s other content operations.
“TMS is a great business, with world-class products and talented, dedicated employees,” said new Tribune CEO Eddy Hartenstein. “These changes will enable us to continue growing the very successful Entertainment Products division, and to forge an even tighter relationship between the content and marketing capabilities of TMS’ News & Features division and those of Tribune’s newspapers and websites.”
The News & Features division will be overseen by Walter Mahoney, currently SVP/McClatchy-Tribune Information Services, one of the world’s leading supplemental news services. Mahoney will report to Tony Hunter, president and chief executive officer of Chicago Tribune Media Group.
Jay Fehnel will continue to oversee the Entertainment Products group as SVP/Chief Operating Officer, and will report to Dan Kazan, SVP/Investments at Tribune Company.
As part of the restructuring, David Williams, president and chief executive officer of TMS, will be leaving the company. Williams will serve as a consultant to TMS during the reorganization process.
