Can a former aerospace engineer who pioneered the development of satellite television save the Los Angeles Times?
Tribune CEO Sam Zell is apparently banking on that: Zell chose Eddy W. Hartenstein, a Cal Tech-educated engineer who founded and built DirecTV, as the troubled paper’s new publisher.
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The 57-year-old executive takes the reins of one of the nation’s most-respected dailies - and the Tribune Co.’s largest - which is beset with falling circulation and ad revenues at a time when its Chicago-based parent is saddled with $12.5 billion in debt, mostly related to Zell’s purchase last year.
Hartenstein, who has no newspaper experience, is the paper’s fourth publisher since it was acquired by Tribune in 2000. The post has been vacant since David Hiller resigned on July 14, the same day that Tribune began implementing the latest round of job cuts.
In his first emailed message to the staff today, Hartenstein described himself as “an avid reader of The Times for more than 45 years,” who never dreamed “that I would awake one morning to find my name at the top of the masthead.”
He said his style was open and pragmatic.
“You will find that I manage by walking around, try to listen more than speak, make decisions quickly after hearing all sides, and am not afraid to reverse course if we happen to stumble into the cauldron of unintended consequences,” he said.
Hartenstein told a Los Angeles Times reporter that before accepting the job, he had questioned Zell about his long-term plan for the paper, including whether it would be kept, and the answer “was a strong, affirmative ‘Yes. This is a keeper. ”
After doing some research -which included a 3 1/2 -hour lunch with Times Editor Russ Stanton - Hartenstein agreed to take the job.
“I wanted to know that I would have the ability . . . to call the shots,” said Hartenstein, who said his new boss made no demands concerning future staff cuts. Zell “basically said, ‘You’re the publisher and CEO. It’s yours to run,’ and that was pretty much it.”
Hartenstein is the latest in a string of radio and TV executives whom Zell has hired to run his newly acquired media empire, among them, Randy Michaels, a former chief executive of Clear Channel Communications, and Lee Abrams, a former XM Satellite Radio chief creative officer.
But Hartenstein’s resume is unusual for its record of technical innovation combined with management smarts.
After graduating from California Polytechnic State University with degrees in math and aerospace engineering in 1972, Hartenstein got a job with Hughes Electronics Corp., a defense contractor and satellite maker, which was later acquired by General Motors.
Hartenstein moved up the ladder at Hughes while pursuing a master’s at California Institute of Technology. Early on, he was also pushing an idea to use satellites and digital technologies to deliver television programming to people’s homes, an idea which would ultimately shake up the television industry.
In the early ’90s, with financing from General Motors, he launched DirecTV Group Inc. By the time he left the satellite TV company in 2004, a year after GM sold its stake to Rupert Murdoch’s News Corp., the company was among the nation’s top pay-television providers, with 13.9 million subscribers.
More recently, he was chairman and chief executive of HD Partners Acquisition Corp., a company that raised about $150 million to buy media, telecom and entertainment assets. The company was dissolved this spring, according to filings with the Securities and Exchange Commission.
Hartenstein’s appointment drew a muted response from Tribune employees who have been demoralized by staff cuts as well as the revolving door at the top.
“The Retch is always optimistic about giving a new boss a shot,” said the blog, Ink-Stained Retch, written by unidentified employees. “Unlike the previous four guys this decade, maybe you’ll be able to fend off the hollow-eyed money men and focus on what matters: producing a great newspaper. Your honeymoon starts now.”
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1 Comments
#1. Joe the Handyman 02.25.2009
WATCH OUT FOR SLICK EDDY… HE PREFERS TO HAVE A BEAUTIFUL HOME YET HE STIFFS EVERYONE WHO HELPS HIM ACCOMPLISH HIS DREAMS. WHERE IS MY $6300 YOU OWE ME EDDY FOR THE WORK I DID ON YOUR HOME THAT YOUR WIFE CONTRACTED FOR…..
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