Newspapers
   
Homepage



Chicago Trib goes
tab at newsstands


Tribune Co. paper stays a broadsheet for subscribers

Jan 14, 2009

With the newspaper industry under heavy pressure, the Chicago Tribune is hoping a bold move will help see it through the tough times.

Starting Monday the paper will be published in a tabloid edition as well as its traditional broadsheet version on weekdays.

While home delivery customers will continue to receive the broadsheet, people who buy the paper from a newsstand will get the tabloid. The new version will contain the same editorial content as the broadsheet.

The change comes just months after a much-criticized redesign reduced the number of news pages in the Tribune. Tribune Co., the paper’s cash-strapped owner, filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy back in December, and executives have said the move to the tabloid will be cost-neutral.

The hope is that the tabloid will be more appealing to readers on the move with a more easily digestible format. That could help boost the Tribune’s long-lagging newsstand sales.

At least one U.S. paper, Harrisburg’s Patriot-News, tried a similar simultaneous format a few years back, but the move lasted a mere six months.

Converting to a tabloid format was all the rage among European broadsheets a few years back.

The Times of London also introduced the tabloid alongside its broadsheet edition, as the Tribune will. It was, however, for a trial period only. Ultimately, the Times phased out its broadsheet edition.



Heidi Dawley is a staff writer for Media Life.




Latest headlines
CBS takes its first Thursday, a slow one
Preparing for life after 'Oprah' wraps up
'Happily Ever Faster,' don't bet on it
In Union Square, dunk Joey the Clown
Do you understand web measurement?
Agencies to Nielsen: Reinstate live stream
Rachel, help, we're being left in the dark
Best tube bets this weekend

BBC America president Garth Ancier steps down
Nicke Bergstrom becomes creative director at Mother New York
Nathan Hackstock becomes West Coast CD at Sapient Interactive
Frank Hahn and Naoki Ito become ECDs at W+K Tokyo

Catherine Balsam-Schwaber becomes SVP of marketing at iVillage
Chris De Luca becomes sports editor at the Chicago Sun-Times
Jennifer Howard rises to senior reporter at the Chronicle of Higher Education
James Van Der Beek files for divorce after six years



© 2009 Media Life Privacy Statement