Tribune Co. said that its CEO, Randy Michaels, has resigned from his post.
The resignation had been expected for several days at the company, which has been looking for a way to emerge from bankruptcy.
Tribune's board said it appointed a new executive council to run the company, which owns newspapers, TV and radio stations.
The council is composed of Don LIebentritt, chief operating officer; Nils Larsen, chief investment officer; Tony Hunter, publisher and CEO of the Chicago Tribune Co. and Eddy Hartenstein, publisher and CEO of Los Angeles Times Communications. Larsen has also been named chairman of Tribune Broadcasting.
Tribune Broadcasting President Jerry Kersting will work with the council and continue overseeing the company's broadcast operations, the company said.
Michaels, a former radio executive, was brought into Tribune by Sam Zell, who took on billions of dollars worth of debt to buy the struggling media company.
Earlier, former News Corp. COO Peter Chernin had been approached about being CEO of Tribune Co., the Wall Street Journal reported. The paper said Chernin's spokesman said he wasn't interested in the job, but declined to comment on whether he was approached.
