Peter Liquori

Peter Liguori, the longtime television executive, was appointed the new chief executive of the Tribune Co. in 2013, just two and a half weeks after the newspaper and TV company emerged from an agonizing four-year bankruptcy process. He swiftly moved to spin off the publishing business and rebrand the company — now called Tribune Media — as a kind of 167-year old start-up focused on television. His strategy is built on three pillars: local television, data and the conversion of WGN America, a onetime superstation, into a national entertainment network.

Last year’s expansion of local news and baseball in New York and Chicago has CEO Peter Liguori feeling good about prospects for the station group this year, but there’s no word for analysts on the possible sale of assets, the incentive auction or the stalled negotiations on renewing the CW. The company also felt compelled to register a $74 million write-down on two off-network shows that have underperformed on WGN America, Person of Interest and Elementary.

Named to replace Norman at the helm of the Oprah-inspired Discovery Communications network is Discovery COO Peter Liquori. The shakeup is only the latest bump for OWN, which debuted a year later than scheduled and has struggled for ratings while burning through money.