Posted by chicagomedia.org on January 13, 2009 at 20:49:27:
Chicago Tribune repackaging itself in tabloid size for street sales
The Chicago Tribune on Monday will hit the streets -- and its rival, the Chicago Sun-Times -- with a newly reformatted tabloid-sized version of itself for weekday sales at area commuter stations, newsstands and newspaper boxes, the Tribune announced today.
Home delivery subscribers will continue to receive the Tribune's traditional broadsheet edition, which will have the same editorial content as the single-copy tabloid version with minor differences in headlines, photos and captions because of the new size, the paper said.
Tribune executives said they believe publishing near-identical versions of the paper simultaneously in broadsheet and compact editions is unprecedented among major U.S. dailies.
The tabloid-sized street-sale edition will remain priced at 75 cents, although copies of Monday's debut will be free as part of a launch promotion. RedEye, the free commuter tabloid the Tribune launched in 2002, will remain unchanged. The Chicago Sun-Times, the Tribune's tabloid-sized rival, sells for 50 cents.
The Tribune's move, replacing its broadsheet edition with the tabloid version at the retail level, is an aggressive bet that a switch in size will improve sales. There are no plans to make the tabloid-sized edition available for home delivery and those who buy single copies of the paper outside the Chicago area will continue to see the broadsheet edition.
"Many news consumers have asked for a more convenient version of the paper that contains all of the same great news and information. Starting Monday, we'll give them what they've asked for," Tony Hunter, the Chicago Tribune Media Group's president, publisher and chief executive, said in a statement. "Companies succeed when they leverage strong brands and respond to customer feedback."
The broadsheet content from the paper's news, sports and business sections will be published in tabloid format for the street-sale edition. The paper's feature sections -- including Live!, Play, On the Town and Good Eating -- will continue to be printed in broadsheet form and inserted into the newsstand edition, as will Classified Marketplace.
(Phil Rosenthal, Chicago Tribune)