By: Joe Strupp William Dean Singleton, whose Denver Post will soon be the lone daily paper in that city, said he is sad that the rival Rocky Mountain News will close after Friday. But he is not surprised.
"The market cannot support two newspapers," said Singleton, CEO and vice chair of MediaNews Group. "It was clear that the newspaper that needed to survive was the Post because it was broadsheet and had the Sunday newspaper."
A sign that the Post had the upper hand is its better financial position despite the fact that both papers have almost identical circulation.
Singleton said he knew of the pending closure because E.W. Scripps, the Rocky owner and partner to MediaNews in the two papers' joint operating agreement, had kept them informed.
"Several weeks ago, we knew it would probably close," Singleton said. "They set a deadline of Jan. 16 for bidders and since we knew they had no bidders, we knew this day was coming, but we did not know exactly when."
When asked if he made any attempts to take over the Rocky or otherwise keep it going, Singleton said, "the market can't support two newspapers. It was clear to both parties a long time ago that in the new business environment there was not enough revenue to support two newspapers."
Singleton admitted it will help his company's bottom line, but lamented the loss of competition as a "newspaper man."
"This is a very sad day, a very sad day because the Rocky is a very good newspaper," he said. "I have read it every day for 22 years -- it is sad for me."
Still, he added, for his company, "it will help substantially from a financial standpoint."
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