The New York Times Company has entered into a printing and distribution agreement with Philadelphia Newspapers LLC.
Under the agreement, Philadelphia Newspapers will print daily editions of The Times and distribute the paper to home subscribers in Philadelphia and the surrounding area. The partnership is slated to begin early this month.
“A distribution partnership with the Philadelphia Inquirer will allow us to offer home delivery of The New York Times to many households that we have not been able to reach in the past, enabling us to target our marketing efforts to potential subscribers and deliver strong circulation growth in this market,” said Diane McNulty, executive director of community affairs and media relations at the New York Times Co., in an e-mail interview. “This enables us to provide broader and timelier distribution, thereby better serving our existing readers while expanding availability and attracting new readers.”
The paper will primarily focus on growing its Philadelphia-area circulation through home delivery. Subscription offers will be marketed to Pennsylvania readers across the Web and through direct mail, telemarketing and FSIs. All marketing materials will be produced in-house. Newsstand sales are also expected to increase slightly, due to earlier distribution and a broader account base.
The printing agreement marks the third print site expansion for the Times in the last six months. The newspaper has signed similar partnerships in Salt Lake City, UT and Dallas, for a total of 24 printing locations in North America.
“For a number of years now, we have been growing our national circulation, fueled in part by print and distribution partnerships with local newspapers across the country,” McNulty said. “These partnerships enable us to build a robust distribution pipeline reaching a broader national audience.
“As we build availability, we are able to expand our newsstand coverage and market targeted subscription offers to potential readers. We continue to explore similar arrangements in other markets across the country,” she concluded. McNulty declined to discuss specific goals for the company.
Philadelphia Newspapers publishes the Philadelphia Inquirer and The Daily News. The Inquirer boasts almost one million readers on weekdays and 1.6 million on Sundays. Philadelphia Newspapers publishes twelve titles at its Schuylkill printing plant.
The New York Times Company publishes The New York Times, the International Herald Tribune, the Boston Globe and fifteen other newspapers. Other holdings include a radio station and Web sites Boston.com and About.com.
