Is 'New York' too much trouble?

Greg Lindsay in Women's Wear Daily cites sources saying that Emmis Communications is reluctant to bid for New York magazine, seeing it as "a major fixer-upper, requiring millions in editorial and promotional investments on top of whatever [purchase] price it would have to pay."

The Indianapolis-based Emmis already has a big potential acquisition on its plate in the form of a reportedly $800 million bid to buy the Los Angeles Dodgers baseball franchise and several Fox TV stations from News Corp. While it covets a New York flagship so it could sell ads from coast-to-coast (it also owns Los Angeles magazine), “you don’t buy New York to give you a national network,” the source said. “That’s just a bonus.”

The column item also says Tribune Co. might really be interested, after beating out Emmis for Chicago magazine and starting the glossy Distinction on both coasts.

But “the Tribune Co. is notorious for not wanting to pay a lot of money for anything,” another source said. “I’m sure they’ve taken a look, but I don’t think they’re going to get into a bidding war if they’re going up against a bunch of rich guys.”

Tribune of course owns the LAT and KTLA. Emmis has Los Angeles Magazine and Power 106. (Link from Romenesko)