Savings Spree Launched

The Savings Spree was launched in March 2011. This is a new opt-in shopper program coordinated between four different Philadelphia newspaper companies to cover the Philadelphia market.  The Savings Spree includes efforts from the owners of the Philadelphia Inquirer, Bucks County Courier Times, Burlington County Times, Cherry Hill Courier Post, Delaware County Daily Times, Doylestown Intelligencer, Lansdale Reporter, Norristown Times Herald, Pottstown Mercury, West Chester Daily Local News and Wilmington News Journal.

The launch is four phase, with Phase I having approximately 158,000 distribution.  Phase II will be later this summer, with an expected additional distribution of 75k to 125k. 

Philadelphia Inquirer TMC Changes Distribution Day to Sunday

The Philadelphia Inquirer TMC Product, My Community Trend, will be changing its distribution day from Wednesday to Sunday, effective July 5, 2009.

Philly Newspapers' Parent Company Into Bankruptcy

The group of business people who paid $562 million to return The Philadelphia Inquirer and Philadelphia Daily News to local ownership in 2006, only to file for bankruptcy protection earlier this year, have now filed for Chapter 11 protection themselves.

Philadelphia Media Holdings LLC (PMH) filed for bankruptcy protection in U.S. Bankruptcy Court in Philadelphia, claiming assets of between $100,001 and $500,000, and liabilities estimated between zero and $50,000.

A PMH spokesman said PMH is a holding company with no employees or revenue. "What it holds is the actual legal entity Philadelphia Newspapers LLC and other smaller properties that are also incorporated separately," spokesman Jay Devine said.

Last Feb. 21, Philadelphia Newspapers, the publishing company of the two dailies, filed for Chapter in Philadelphia, to restructure its debt load of $390 million in debt load.

When Philadelphia Newspapers filed for bankruptcy last February, it wasn't thought necessary to include PMH in the filing, headded. But PMH is also named in some litigation along with Philadelphia Newspapers. Since the litigation is stayed during bankruptcy proceedings, filing for Chapter 11 ensures that PMH cannot be pursued in court separately.

PMH is the group formed by local public relations executive Brian P. Tierney to buy the newspapers from The McClatchy Co.,which acquired them in its acquisition of Knight Ridder Inc. The group put up $152 million in cash and borrowed the rest of the $562 million purchase price.

According to the bankruptcy petition, filed last Wednesday, the largest stakeholders in PMH are the Carpenters Pension and Annuity Fund of Philadelphia with a 30.35% interest, followed by luxury housing magnate Bruce E. Toll with a 20.26% stake. William A. Graham IV is listed as having a 16.88% stake. Tierney's interest in PMH totals 6.75%.

Philadelphia Inquirer - Bankruptcy

By Harold Brubaker, Posted on Mon, Feb. 23, 2009

Inquirer Staff Writer

Philadelphia Newspapers LLC, which owns The Inquirer, the Philadelphia Daily News, and Philly.com, filed for bankruptcy protection yesterday in a bid to restructure its $390 million in debt load.

The company, bought by a group of Philadelphia-area investors for $562 million in 2006, said the voluntary Chapter 11 filing would not interrupt its daily operations.

"This restructuring is focused solely on our debt, not our operations," chief executive officer Brian P. Tierney, who led the group that provided about $150 million of the purchase price three years ago, said in a news release.

"Our operations are sound and profitable," said Tierney, referring to operating profits before interest and certain other costs.

The financial burden from an advertising downturn, rising costs for newsprint, and the migration of readers to the Internet caused Philadelphia Newspapers to fall out of compliance with its loan agreements last year. The same conditions have devastated the broadcast industry.

The company said it decided to turn to Bankruptcy Court after negotiating with its lenders for the last 11 months. During that time, the company was billed $13.4 million in penalty interest and fees.

It is not clear whether the current owners will retain a stake in the company if the debt is successfully restructured with the help of a bankruptcy judge. Ideally, a restructuring would reduce the amount of debt and lower the interest rate.

Citizens Bank is the agent for the senior lenders, who have included Angelo Gordon & Co., CIT Group Inc., and Wells Fargo & Co.

The Newspaper Guild, which represents newsroom and other employees of the company, alerted its members of the bankruptcy filing yesterday.

To fund operations during the restructuring, the company asked for court approval of $25 million in debtor-in-possession financing that was arranged by NewSpring Capital in Radnor.

The Philadelphia Newspapers filing follows last month's bankruptcy filing by the Minneapolis Star Tribune. The Journal Register Co., based in Yardley and the publisher of a number of local daily and weekly newspapers, filed for bankruptcy Saturday. Just last week, the publicly traded New York Times Co. suspended its dividend to cope with the economic downturn.

The Tribune Co., which was saddled with a massive $13 billion debt load when Chicago real estate magnate Sam Zell bought it in 2007, filed for bankruptcy protection in December.