Is it Too Late for Sam Zell to Save the Tribune Company?

Implications: Massive debt + no real plan + continued business decline = big trouble

Analysis: Hundreds more "employee owners" are heading for the doors at Tribune Company.  Analysts have been speculating for months about possible defaults on the company's loans.  And Sam Zell has found out that buying an old media company is a far different, more complex and intractable proposition than investing in depressed real estate.

Any optimism that surrounded Zell's acquisition of Tribune was short-lived.  He spent the first few months telling employees how bad old management was, what a smart business man he was, and what the long-term benefits of "employee ownership" would be if things played out right.

Of course, things haven't turn out so well.  Zell bought the company without any clear vision of what to do with its media properties.  He lacked any kind of transformational plan for the company, and this, combined with his inability to reach out to advertisers in a way that would help at least limit his revenue declines, has created a potentially disastrous situation.

There's a limit to how far Zell can go by cutting costs and selling assets.  By trying to force through synergy in some areas, he's creating situations where individual newspapers and TV stations may actually be severely weakened -- and have content and/or operational problems -- if the company ends up splitting apart.  And if other investors want to take on a "prize" like the L.A. Times, they'll find that many of its best people are gone and its "hold" on its home market has already been eroded.

As Tribune employees have found out: Knowing your way around a balance sheet is not the same as knowing what to do with a broadsheet.  And being a former "owner" isn't much help when you no longer get a paycheck.