No TV news anchors?

Tribune Co.'s Chief Executive Randy Michaels has some interesting ideas on how to remake the 163-year-old news company, including television news without anchors.

In an interview with the Wall Street Journal, Michaels is said to be "rethinking" Tribune's business interests, including "reducing duplication in news reporting, so that smaller papers use national and foreign articles from larger siblings rather than writing their own."

The Tribune's holdings include eight major newspapers, such as the Los Angeles Times and the Chicago Tribune, and 23 local TV stations.

An excerpt from the interview:

*WSJ: You and your team have said Tribune is going to "blow up" the traditions of local-TV news. What do you mean?

*Mr. Michaels: We are about to launch a TV newscast in Houston that has no anchors, that has great pictures and great writing, but doesn't involve a set or a desk or anyone standing in the way of the picture. Now is it going to work? We're going to find out.

Michaels is also renting out part of Tribune's headquarters for the filming of a "Transformers" movie for around $200,000.

Tribune made $3.2 billion in revenue in 2009. The company filed for bankruptcy protection in Dec. 2008.