Posted by chicagomedia.org on August 17, 2009 at 14:30:03:
SouthtownStar eliminates Saturday edition, adopts tabloid format
Sun-Times Media Group's south suburban SouthtownStar newspaper is eliminating its Saturday edition in favor of a Sunday-through-Friday publication schedule and, as of Monday, has been reformatted as a tabloid, like the company's flagship Chicago Sun-Times.
Features from the Saturday SouthtownStar will be incorporated into a Weekend Edition that comes out on Friday, beginning this week. The Sunday edition will continue to include the paper's eight zoned Neighborhood Star sections.
"The new look and the launch of our new Weekend Edition will provide readers with the information they need, and our advertisers with exciting opportunities," Fred Lebolt, SouthtownStar president and publisher, said in a statement.
The SouthtownStar was formed in late 2007 with Sun-Times Media's merger of the Daily Southtown and the twice-weekly Star publications. At the time, the move was projected to save the company $3 million annually. A Sun-Times Media spokeswoman declined to discuss the financial impact of the latest changes.
Sun-Times Media, which filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection in March, has been actively seeking a buyer. The owner of the Sun-Times, SouthtownStar and other area pubications and Web sites ended June with $23.1 million in cash, according to a document filed in U.S. Bankruptcy Court in Delaware.
The company has slowed its rate of cash burn by cutting payroll, improving efficiencies and using the bankruptcy process to halt payments to pension plans and to push off other payments due.
The Chicago Tribune -- whose parent, Tribune Co., filed for Chapter 11 protection late last year -- converted its non-subscription weekday edition to a tabloid format in January.
(Phil Rosenthal, Chicago Tribune)