Tribune Company is creating an online entertainment news bureau that will provide original, multimedia content to the company’s newspaper and television websites. The bureau will be powered by the combined resources of the Los Angeles Times and Zap2it, an online source of movie and television listings.

The bureau will deliver expanded coverage of movies and television, and will leverage writers and reporters from across Tribune to bring readers constantly updated blogs and other multimedia news on more than 60 top TV shows. One of the team’s first editorial projects will be a behind-the-scenes look at the unstoppable phenomenon of “American Idol.” While located at The Times, the bureau’s editorial content will be aggregated on the Zap2it portal, which will be enhanced and re-launched early this year.

The new bureau will serve a combined online audience of about 9 million unique visitors viewing 65 million pages a month across all Tribune online entertainment offerings.

Times editors and veteran entertainment journalists Richard Rushfield and Joseph Kapsch will lead the operation, working closely with colleagues at The Times, Tribune Interactive, Zap2it and across all Tribune newspapers.

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