Bankrupt publisher and TV broadcaster Tribune Co filed for bankruptcy last December, and it’s looking increasingly like next December might be the first time we see what the new company will look like. Here is what the company’s Chicago Tribune newspaper reported Tuesday morning:

The parent company of the Chicago Tribune is scheduled to deliver a plan Aug. 4 but wants to extend that deadline to Nov. 30.

Citing the complex nature of the case, Tribune said in a filing it needs more time to build consensus around a plan. It also said the outcome of the pending sale of the Chicago Cubs could have a “material impact” on the plan.

A spokesman called the request “routine.”

This would be the second time that Tribune gets an extension, if the bankruptcy court judge approves it. Our question for you: Will it be the last? We’re talking about $13 billion in debt, not exactly a foreclosed house. What do you think?

Keep an eye on

• Media companies! They’re not dead! If you don’t believe us, read it here too. (Dow Jones Newswires)
• Freshly departed NBC executive Ben Silverman discovers he really is a rogue outsider after all — and everyone knows it. (The Hollywood Reporter)
• Here is why most people who say they can arrange a viral marketing campaign usually can’t. (The Wall Street Journal)

Here are some of the day’s top stories in the media industry:

Verizon Planning Its Own App Store (Business Insider)
Preethi Dumpala writes: “The main idea: Verizon wants to be the company connecting its customers with apps — not necessarily its handset partners. And it wants to avoid becoming an even dumber pipe. Depending on how it’s set up, this could clash with gadget makers’ plans.”

McGraw-Hill might ‘give away’ Business Week for nominal $1 (FT)
“McGraw-Hill might reap only a nominal $1 by selling Business Week, according to people familiar with the 80-year-old financial magazine’s record of losses. The publisher has appointed Evercore, a boutique investment bank, to sell the title after deciding it was non-core to a group that owns the Standard & Poor’s rating agency and an educational publisher, two people familiar with the decision said,” writes Andrew Edgecliffe-Johnson.

Sinclair says it might consider bankruptcy (Baltimore Sun)
“The Hunt Valley-based owner of television stations, which depends heavily on automotive advertisers for revenue, said it might be obligated to pay $488.5 million of its total outstanding debt within the next 18 months. The company said it had $1.3 billion in total debt outstanding as of March 31,” writes Lorraine Mirabella.

Minority Broadcasters Seek Federal Aid (WSJ)
Fawn Johnson writes: “A group of minority broadcasters asked Treasury Secretary Timothy Geithner Monday for financial assistance akin to the aid that has been extended to the financial and auto industries. ”Minority-owned broadcasters are close to becoming an extinct species,” the letter said. “Even in better economic times, minority broadcasters have historically had difficulties accessing the capital markets.”

In other news:

• Earnings Preview: A tough 2Q expected for Gannett (AP)
• New York Times to sell NYC radio station (Reuters)
• CHART OF THE DAY: Users Spent A Billion Hours On Facebook In June (BI)

James Balsillie, the co-CEO of Research-in-Motion, can't seem to catch a break. Having failed in previous efforts to buy NHL teams in Pittsburgh and Nashville and move them to Hamilton, Ontario, he's now been shut out in his bid to buy the bankrupt Phoenix Coyotes. Arizona bankruptcy Judge Redfield Baum ruled late on Monday that a June 29 deadline set by Balsillie did not allow enough time to settle the complex case. It's a shame things were so rushed. The decision could yet be a game changer for struggling sports franchises.

Balsillie (pictured above enjoying the game from the ice) and the owner of the Coyotes, trucking magnate Jerry Moyes, offered to put together a $212.5 million deal in May, when the franchise filed for bankruptcy protection, to move the team to Hamilton, about 200 miles northwest of Buffalo, N.Y. But NHL says the franchise is contractually obligated to stay in Phoenix.

Being a judge, Baum took the liberty to say both sides are wrong. He rejected Moyes' attorneys' argument that antitrust law allowed the sale and relocation of the Coyotes without NHL approval, and he dismissed concerns of other sports leagues that allowing the Coyotes to relocate would encourage other financially struggling teams to use bankruptcy court to get around league rules.

The Coyotes have never made a profit since moving to Arizona from Winnipeg in 1996 and lost $73 million from 2005 to 2008, according to court documents. If bankruptcy, with its power to renegotiate contracts, is not a good enough reason to find a better market for your product, what is?

Balsillie is keeping his game face on, saying there is still time for a deal to be worked out. He probably doesn't need the deadlines. While the fortunes of the BlackBerry market may ebb and flow, its unlikely fans in Hamilton will lose their taste for a game that has proven so popular in Florida, North Carolina and Southern California, if not the desert.

Paul Allen’s Charter Communications has officially filed for bankruptcy, citing $24.2 billion in debt and $13.1 billion in assets.

The move has been expected for months. Still, it makes you wonder: Is this a good or bad thing for the company? For the industry?

That depends on who you are. As far as the company is concerned, the action gets its a $3 billion injection from investors.

It will reorganize so that it can better deal with its debt, although it may have to sell off certain assets before it emerges from bankruptcy.

That hefty debt makes it an unlikely takeover target, experts say, but that doesn’t mean that Time Warner Cable or Comcast or some other rival might not consider taking a closer look at Charter now that it has filed for bankruptcy protection.

And the plan is supported by Allen, Microsoft co-founder and one of the world’s richest men. One analyst however said it unlikely that those rivals will swoop in at this point. It is possible that Charter may revive itself in a few months, with much less of a debt load.

Charter's 2-year stock chart

Pity its shareholders though. At 3 cents a share, Charter’s shares are down more than 96 percent in the last year, and light years from the $5 mark its in 2007.

And it’s too soon to tell how all of this will affect Charter’s more than 5 million subscribers, which span 18 states.

Keep an eye on:

• Anchor Dylan Ratigan out at CNBC? (NY Post)
• Disney may get an equity stake in Hulu (Paid Content)

(Photo: Reuters)

Paul Allen, the billionaire who made his money as co-founder of Microsoft, might no longer be the largest individual owner of cable company Charter Communications after it emerges from bankruptcy by April 1.

According to a story broken by Reuters on Thursday private equity firm Apollo Group is planning to take economic ownership of Charter. Allen will retain a 35 percent voting control as had previously been announced. 

Under Allen’s watch as chairman, Charter spent billions of dollars acquiring smaller cable systems across the United States, running up a pile of crippling debt in the process. That debt load led to the company announcing last month that it has agreed a pre-packaged bankruptcy deal with senior creditors which will be filed any day now.

Allen has a spotty track record with his many investments, which range from middling NBA basketball team Portland Trail Blazers to online retailer Value America. But as this AP profile piece notes Charter may be his biggest disappointment.

Keep an eye on:

• Blockbuster swung to fourth-quarter net loss due to a  writedown (WSJ)
• Apple iTunes offers feature films in HD (Hollywood Reporter/Reuters)
• Samsung launches movies to mobiles service (Reuters)

(Photo: Reuters)

The 24/7 Wall Street blog’s list of newspapers that it teed up as going out of business this year is making a certain group of people rather unhappy — the people who run those papers. Two of them are so hopping mad that they have aired their complaints to the public.

You can read the whole list on 24/7 Wall Street, but here is what it said about:

New York Daily News:

NY Daily News is one of several large papers fighting for circulation and advertising in the New York City area. Unlike The New York Times, New York Post, Newsday, and Newark Star Ledger, the Daily News is not owned by a larger organization. Real estate billionaire Mort Zuckerman owns the paper. Based on figures from other big dailies it could easily lose $60 million or $70 million and has no chance of recovering from that level

And the Philadelphia Daily News:

The Philadelphia Daily News. The smaller of the two papers owned by The Philadelphia Newspapers LLC, which recently filed for bankruptcy. The parent company says it will make money this year, but with newspaper advertising still falling sharply, the city cannot support two papers and the Dally News has a daily circulation of only about 100,000. The tabloid has a small staff, most of whom could probably stay on at Philly.com, the web operation for both of the city dailies.

New York Daily News Editor Marc Kramer unloaded on the blog and Editor Doug McIntyre, as you can see in this story in his big rival, the New York Post (which must have enjoyed the writeup).

Brian Tierney, who runs the Philadelphia papers, put his skills as a seasoned public releations executive to work and issued this press release:

On Monday, March 9, 2009, Time.com posted a blog entry titled, The 10 Most Endangered Newspapers in America, which included the Philadelphia Daily News at the top of its list. First, let me say that I like catchy Top 10 lists as much as the next guy, but the Daily News is not going anywhere. It is beloved by its readers for its Philly attitude toward sports, entertainment and politics. I agree with my good friend, Marc Kramer at the New York Daily News (also on the list) who called the report, ‘unfounded and baseless.’ The fact that this “report” can get such widespread coverage is a case study in why we need to preserve institutions like The Daily News, which has reporters who actually call sources and editors who actually check facts. If we hold up this type of blog “reporting” as journalism, God save our democracy.

The blog had a number of wrong assumptions and factual errors. First, The Daily News is profitable. Our newspapers made $36 million last year. The Daily News is the 91st largest newspaper in America in the fourth largest media market. There is ample room for two newspapers in Philadelphia. Second, the blog assumed The Daily News journalists could be absorbed into philly.com. The Daily News has 107 journalists. It would be quite a squeeze to get them all into the philly.com offices, where we have about 10 content producers. Maybe they could share chairs and desks?

The public needs and expects journalism to be accurate and factually correct. To do otherwise is a disservice to them.

At least he didn’t say that bloggers aren’t journalists. That’s a step toward the future!

(Photo: Reuters)

Were buyers shying away from the Consumer Electronics Show this year or did they just keep a really low profile?

Given the state of retailers — what with consumer electronics sellers like Circuit City filing for bankruptcy protection — it wouldn’t be surprising if they kept away. After all, who’s in the mood for bulk buys of fancy new gadgets when consumers are so tightfisted with their dollars?

There was no International Retail Power Panel, which has featured the CEOs of Best Buy and Circuit City in the past. And the one retail panel advertised on the CES website earlier — International Success Stories from Retail — was also cancelled today, without explanation.

Guess it’s hard to celebrate success in a recession.