Monday, July 20, 2009

Cox sells papers in Colo., N.C., Texas

Cox Enterprises Inc. is paring down its list of newspaper properties, selling papers in Colorado, North Carolina and Texas.
In Colorado, it sold the Daily Sentinel in Grand Junction and the Nickel, a shopper, to Kansas-based Seaton Publishing while it sold the Waco (Texas) Herald-Tribune to local firm Robinson Media Co.
Cooke Communications, meantime, purchased North Carolina papers the Greenville Daily Reflector, the Rocky Mount Telegram, the Elizabeth City Daily Advance and 10 weeklies.
Cox declined to disclose financial details, but said all of the transactions would close within the next few weeks.

July 20, 2009 — E-reader firm Polymer Vision folds

Polymer Vision, the England-based developer of the flexible Readius e-reader, shut down its operations, according to multiple media reports.
The Readius, which weighed only 4 ounces, sported a 5-inch black-and-white rollable display, with a resolution of 320-by-240 pixels.
NewspaperDirect late last year adapted its PressDisplay application to work on the device, which also boasted cell phone and USB storage functionality.
“We have the software written for them and the feed established, so if they end up finding a way to release the device, NewspaperDirect’s electronic newspapers will be available on the device,” said Igor Smirnoff, ND’s director of strategic development.
The shutdown cost more than 50 employees their jobs.

Texas daily live on AdBase

The Midland (Texas) Reporter-Telegram went live on Atex’s AdBase to manage its advertising operations from order entry and rating to pagination, billing and financial reporting, Atex said.
AdBase will also handle invoicing and accounts receivable for the Hearst Corp. daily’s print and digital advertising business.
“From an efficiency standpoint, we saw how Atex AdBase could really streamline our business practices and let us do a lot more packaged-type selling and then do upselling on those packages,” said Dave Wedel, publisher of the Reporter-Telegram. “Online, we saw how people could upsell themselves.”

MyPressReports picks up Iowa daily

Audit firm MyPressReports.com LLC said it has added The Tribune in Ames, Iowa, to the list of newspapers using its management reports.
The company said The Tribune will use its reporting apps to keep tabs on production, circulation, ad sales and time and attendance. The Tribune is MyPressReport.com’s 34th client and 14th printing facility, it said.

Fla. daily taps Saxotech for online search

The Villages (Fla.) Daily Sun will implement Saxotech’s Directory Publishing Center to underpin online search, Saxotech said.
Supported on a hosted and managed platform, DPC software will enable the Daily Sun to configure a wide range of searchable directories, guides and index products, and allow the publisher’s digital audience to find businesses, services and activities in their community and surrounding areas, Saxotech said. The publisher can also individually add components or behaviors to an advertiser’s listing, in the process creating upsell options.
“A digital optimized search engine will be a great addition for our customers and readers,” said Jim Sprung, general manager for The Sun.
The Directory Publishing Center is part of Saxotech’s recently launched Online Ad Solutions software.

NAA: Papers remain leading ad medium

Newspapers remain the leading advertising medium cited by consumers in planning, shopping and making purchasing decisions, according to early data from a MORI Research survey of more than 3,000 adults.
The Newspaper Association of America announced the findings last week.
The study, part of a series entitled “American Consumer Insights,” examined the impact newspaper advertising has on consumer shopping and spending patterns. Among the early findings:
•Nearly six in 10 adults (59 percent) identify newspapers as the medium they use to help plan shopping or make purchase decisions.
•More than 80 percent of those surveyed said they “took action” as a result of newspaper advertising.
•More than 70 percent of adults regularly or occasionally read newspaper inserts.
The NAA said competitive media trailed well behind newspapers as the primary medium used by consumers to check advertising. The closest competitor — the Internet — lagged by 20 percentage points, NAA said.

Lee switching Wis. print sites

Lee Enterprises said it is shifting printing of Wisconsin newspapers Chippewa Herald, the Dunn County News and other production operations to the La Crosse Tribune, effective Aug. 11.
In addition to the Herald and News, the Chippewa operation prints the Tradin’ Post Buyer’s Guide, Chippewa Valley Business Report, Dunn County Advertiser, Chippewa County Advertiser and Marketplace Homes.
La Crosse is about 75 miles from Chippewa.

Seattle Times launches revamped homes site

The Seattle Times relaunched its NWhomes.com site, using software from Adicio Inc.
The Times is using the software developer’s community and amenity search options to allow prospective buyers to more easily narrow their search results.
The paper since 2003 has used Adicio’s app to underpin its online employment section. It migrated the real estate and automotive platforms from another vendor to Adicio earlier this year, the company said.

In Brief

Atex named Marty Windsor marketing manager for the Americas and Keegan Skidmore global marketing communications analyst.

The Wall Street Journal launched a new career site, FINS.com, a standalone online resource specifically targeting financial professionals and the finance market. The site covers all major financial sectors with associated jobs and news, in-depth research on companies, and daily columns offering advice and career insight, WSJ said.

The Daily News Transcript in Dedham, Mass., will reduce its frequency from five days a week to one, effective Oct. 1, according to The Boston Globe. The Daily News Transcript has a readership of about 3,200 and is owned by GateHouse Media Inc.

Tribune Co. will shift TV book sales operations from one of its divisions to competitor Advantage Newspaper Consultants under terms of a three-year contract. A bankruptcy judge is expected to approve the deal later this month.

U.K. newspaper printer Newsprinters Knowsley was presented the Newspaper Printer of the Year award at the 2009 Newspaper Awards ceremony, held earlier this spring. The printer was cited for its work producing The (London) Times Literary Supplement. It also snared recognition for production of The Times and The Sunday Times. The papers are all printed on a 25-satellite tower manroland Colorman XXL press.

Q.I. Press Controls said it signed an agreement with Baldwin Technology to market its line of press control equipment in Japan.
www.qipc.com
www.baldwintech.com

Digital Technology International released DTI Financials for its Cloud computing environment. The financial app is the newest addition to DTI’s line of products available in its hosted software offering, including DTI Circulation, DTI AudienceReach, DTI Advertising and DTI ContentPublisher.
DTI also released the latest version of AudienceReach, adding support for targeted e-mail marketing.
www.dtint.com

Local businesses account for almost 20 percent of ads placed on social networking sites, according to research firm Borrell Associates. The firm said local companies will spend $641 million — out of a total ad spend of $3.26 billion — to buy ads on the leading 118 social networking sites.
www.borrellassociates.com