The Los Angeles edition of Spanish-language paper Hoy is cutting its print frequency from daily to weekly.
Hoy, which is owned by the Tribune Co., is distributed for free in targeted ZIP codes around the city, with 75,000 copies going out Mondays – Thursdays and 145,000 on Fridays. Most readers are of Hispanic descent and are bilingual or Spanish-dominant.
“With these moves, we are smartly recognizing that these are the days most important to our readers and advertisers and, in publishing twice a week, we can produce Hoy more efficiently and continue offering it to readers free of charge,” said John T. O’Loughlin, EVP and CMO, targeted media and marketing for the Tribune Co.’s Los Angeles Times Media Group, in a memo to employees.
Hoy’s Fin de Semana weekend magazine — which is delivered to 500,000 homes in LA — will continue publication, although delivery will become more targeted, the paper reports. Delivery will be zoned for the first time, in an effort by the paper to better serve local advertisers.
The current economic woes crunching the media industry have not been lost on Spanish-language media. Tu Ciudad, another LA-based Spanish publication, folded last year, and Hoy New York, which Tribune Co. sold to rival Spanish-language publisher ImpreMedia in 2007, ceased all print operations on December 30.
Hoy New York maintained a Web presence after folding its print product, and it appears that Hoy LA will do the same. O’Loughlin’s staff memo noted that the once-a-week print product would be reverse-publishing stories from the paper’s bilingual site.
Hoy Chicago, also owned by Tribune Co., will continue to publish five days a week, in spite of the parent company’s ongoing financial struggles (Tribune filed for bankruptcy in December 2008). Representatives from Hoy LA could not be reached for comment as of press time.
