Bayshore Sun and La Porte Bayshore Sun to Close

Hartman Newspapers has announced that the Bayshore Sun and the La Porte Bayshore Sun will both cease publishing, with the last editions on Wednesday, October 6th, 2010.  This was announced in a letter from Hartman Newspaper president Clyde C. King issued today. 

Lake Norman Navigator Closes

The Lake Norman Navigator, a Media General publication, ceased publishing on September 23rd, 2010.  The Navigator was a weekly Thursday community publication that with approximately 10,200 free distribution in the Mooresville and Troutman areas of North Carolina.  It was part of the North Carolina Community Newspapers.

Richmond Daily News Switches to Semi-Weekly Distribution

The Richmond Daily News announced that it is switching to semi-weekly distribution effective October 18, 2010.  Per publisher JoEllen Black, the Richmond News will now publish on Mondays and Thursdays.

This will not impact the distribution or schedule of the publication's shopper, the Town & Country Leader/East Shopper.

Hoy Fin De Semana to Increase Distribution

The Los Angeles Times Media Group has announced that the Hoy Fin De Semana will increase its distribution from 500k to 700,103 households, and expand from 120 zip codes to 186 zip codes, effective October 2nd, 2010.  The Hoy Fin De Semana is a Hispanic weekend publication that covers Hispanic dominant zip codes in the Los Angeles area.

Birmingham News to Launch Sunday Select

The Birmingham News has announced that it will launch a Sunday Select (non-subscriber opt-in program) effective November 7, 2010.  The product will be called Yes! Your Essential Shopper, and will initially target 15,400 additional households that are located in 14 prime zip codes.

For more information contact the Birmingham News.

Hollywood Reporter Up for Some Big Changes

The Hollywood Reporter will be facing some major changes in October 2010.  The Reporter will discontinue publishing its print edition five days a week, instead distributing one edition weekly.  Its e-edition will remain daily.

The Reporter will also convert to a glossy large magazine format.  The content of the publication will also be changing, from an historical trend of promoting studios and the entertainment industry, to covering more news and topical items.

Ventura County Star Launches Opt-In Program

The Ventura County Star, an E.W. Scripps publication, announced that it will launch Scoop! Sunday Savings on October 10, 2010.  This is an opt in non-subscriber product that will be carrier delivered to 12,000 households in the Ventura County area on Sundays.

Springfield Republican Reverts to Seven Day, Broadsheet Format

The Springfield Republican will once again be broadsheet format for all seven days of distribution, per Editor & Publisher.  The Springfield, Massachusetts publication had switched Monday and Saturday distribution to tabloid format in June of 2009 as a cost-cutting measure.

Caddo Citizen to Close

The Natchitoches Times newspaper group announced that the Caddo Citizen, covering Caddo Parish, Louisiana, will be closing on September 30th, 2010, unless a buyer is found.  This is covered in a story reported by KTBS.com.

The Caddo Citizen has been in business for 99 years, founded in 1912.  It is a weekly publication with a current distribution less than 1,000.

Plano Star Courier Changes Distribution Days

The Plano Star Courier will convert from daily distribution to twice weekly on September 9th, 2010, distributing on Thursdays and Sundays only.  It is also shifting to a primarily free distribution, with 40,500 distribution on Thursday, and 67,000 distribution on Sunday.

Furthermore, the Plano Insider will cease distributing on its own. It will now be distributed inside the Plano Star Courier on Sundays, effective September 12th, 2010.

Minneapolis Star-Tribune Launches Sunday Opt-In Program

The Minneapolis Star-Tribune has announced that they are launching a Sunday opt-in program for non-subscribers called the StribExpress, per an announcement in Editor & Publisher.  This is a variation of the Sunday Select program initiated by other publications across the country.

The StribExpress will launch this Sunday, September 12th, 2010, with an distribution of 20,000.  Per Star-Tribune Chief Revenue Officer Jeff Griffing:

“This is an innovative way to have a direct relationship with non-subscribers.  There is a segment of the market that does not want a complete newspaper but does want the advertising and coupons. And there are a number of advertisers who are very interested in expanding their reach in selected areas. We put all that together with StribExpress, and everybody wins.”

The Star-Tribune already has a total market saturation product called the Twin Cities Values (TCV), that is delivered to non-subscribers of the paid paper.  Those individuals who have signed up for the StribExpress will be treated as subscribers, and not receive the TCV.

 

In our opinion the ability to remove the duplication from the TCV, and ensuring that the StribExpress is requested by the recipient, does greatly increase the value of this new program offering; you are reaching consumers who specifically want the inserts/coupons.  It would seem to also indicate that if you are buying the TCV right now, you may need to start incorporating the StribExpress into your plan, as you may lose those individuals.  Perhaps the Star-Tribune has a plan in place to cover that.

Locked Out Workers Launch New Paper

The locked out workers of the Journal De Montreal announced their plans to launch a free weekly tabloid newspaper this fall, called the Rue Frontenac.  The French language publication will have an estimated 50,000 circulation, and will be distributed via street sales and racks. 

The locked out workers had launched their own website in the spring of 2009, http://www.ruefrontenac.com/.  The site claims more than 300,000 unique visitors a month.

The Journal De Montreal has been successfully continued publishing since the lock out began. 

It will be interesting to see if the published version of the Rue Frontenac can maintain equal success as the website edition.

Galesburg's The Paper Changes Name & Enhances Product

Galesburg's The Paper, a Gatehouse Media publication, changed its name to the Knox County Neighbors in Mid August, 2010. According to Mark Ebner, Director of Advertising, Marketing and Promotions, the following changes also occurred with the KCN:

The flavor of the publication is still 100% local content of local interest. Traditionally, The Paper newsroom content was created allowing for a similar amount of "editorial news latitude" as our paid daily, The Register-Mail is newsroom edited now. We have instituted some exciting changes that enhance KCN editorial content and depth of readership.

Answering both advertiser and reader feed back, KCN now offers in every issue, re-occurring local community profiles and great photography. At the top of each page, we have bannered each page with titles for specific newsroom content on, "Know Your Neighbors" (front page profile), a reader submitted photos page, "What's Happening" (calender of local events and weekly featured event), "Voices" (local submitted content), "Schools", "Good Works", "Military and Veterans", "Seniors", "Youth Sports", of course about 3.5 pages of classifieds. and additional paid ad/editorial space as needed.

With only a couple of weekly issues out, we definitely hit a home run with our advertisers and readers! Realistically, The Paper customarily ran 12-16 pages as a rule, based on approximately a 50/50 ad to content ratio. KCN is running twice the size (24-28) pages, at the same ad to content ratio formula. Weekly preprints from our national, regional and local clients are strong, KCN is are grateful to have an excellent preprint base.

Distribution foot print is the exact same as The Paper was, approximately 21500 printed and delivered to every city and rural household in Knox County, select rack and business locations at many city and rural locations.

Distribution methods: KCN is uniquely distributed on Wednesdays of every week. With Register-Mail carriers and motor routes already delivering to R-M to subscribers, approximately 9000 copies of The Paper and now also 9000 copies of KCN are inserted into the R-M for carrier/motor delivery on Wednesday to R-M subscribers, city and rural. The remaining 13500 copies of KCN are distributed to (Register-Mail/KCN) carriers who deliver in the City of Galesburg and to 14 "out of Galesburg" incorporated villages and racks. KCN is simultaneously mailed to rural addresses. With printing every Monday morning, all copies of KCN arrive to our readership on Wednesday each week.

Preprints: With our efficient distribution, KCN "zoning options" revolve around The Register-Mails' carrier and motor route zone options. At present, those Register-Mail carrier/motor routes are in revision with finalization and publication of those options scheduled for mid September. Rest assured that at present and thereon, all preprints from every advertiser are being delivered to your clients, as specified in all insertion orders.

Saline Courier Launches New Weekly Publication

The Saline Courier, a Horizon Publication,  launched a free weekly community tabloid style newspaper the Saline Record on September 2, 2010.  The initial distribution of the publication was 14,000, distributed throughout Saline County, Arkansas.

The Record is a tabloid style publication covering news, sports and special interest topics.

The Saline Courier was formerly the Benton Courier, changing its name last month.  The Courier is a daily newspaper covering the Benton, Arkansas area seven days a week.

North County Times Launches Sunday Select

The North County Times has recently announced a plan to launch a Sunday Select program.  These programs are designed to be an 'opt-in' TMC product in conjunction with the Sunday paid distribution.  The launch date is Sunday October 3rd.

In a news release issued today, CIPS was happy to announce they will be deliverying the North County Times Sunday Select.

LOS ANGELES, California – September 1, 2010 – CIPS Marketing has signed with the North County Times to distribute its newly launched weekly “Sunday Select” advertising program.

Mark Henschen, Circulation Director at the North County Times, said “The North County Times eagerly sought out CIPS to take on our ‘Sunday Select’ delivery ... this is in no small part due to the solid performance of CIPS with the delivery of our Friday ‘NCT WEEKLY’ product. CIPS is high quality with low costs ... a winner in these difficult economic times!”

Pete Friedrich, Operations Vice President at CIPS, said “We are honored to be selected by the North County Times for this important launch. Be it a traditional TMC distribution or a more targeted subscriber-based program like ‘Sunday Select’, CIPS simply builds the best operations in the industry. That’s just the fact”.

Drawing on more than 25 years of quality TMC distribution, CIPS is the most reliable and cost-effective distribution partner in the newspaper industry, now distributing to nearly 6 million packages per week - unprecedented in the industry. CIPS has developed the most comprehensive Quality Control systems and has designed the needed delivery and verification tools to comply with all delivery specifications, including the strictest Do Not Deliver and Paper Pile-Up standards in the industry. CIPS employs the most qualified operational leadership and expertise, and enjoys the industry’s only perfect track record of successful TMC conversions.

Cass County Shopper Closes

The World Herald Media Group announced it was discontinuing the Cass County Shopper effective September 1st, 2010.  The World Herald has no plans to cover that area with another TMC product.