Thomson sell-off continues

By: Lucia Moses Media General, Copley Press are the latest buyers

With its possible purchase of five Thomson Corp. dailies, Media General Inc. will widen its Southeastern footprint while creating TV-newspaper combinations in three additional markets.
Like Tribune Co., with its acquisition of the Times Mirror Co., Media General hopes to gain greater advertising clout and operating efficiencies by eventually running Thomson's Alabama and South Carolina clusters with its TV stations that overlap with those markets.
The Richmond, Va.-based company agreed to pay $237 million for the papers, which include the Florence, S.C., Morning News and The Dothan (Ala.) Eagle. In all, they have a combined daily circulation topping 90,000.
The deal announced last Tuesday is part of Thomson's ongoing sale of all but one of its 55 U.S. and Canadian dailies.
Separately, San Diego-based Copley Press Inc. agreed to buy Thomson's The Repository in Canton, Ohio (with a daily circulation 63,711), for at least $183 million. Copley, which is privately held, declined to reveal the sale price.
Media General hopes to extend throughout the company its convergence strategy. The plan is already under way in Tampa, Fla., where its daily paper, TV station, and Internet operations began sharing a newsroom and coordinating coverage in the past year.
Media General is depending, as is Tribune, on the federal government relaxing its prohibition against a newspaper owning a broadcast station in the same market. In any case, Media General can operate the properties until its TV licenses begin to expire in six years, Media General Vice President Bob Pendergast said.
Copley, meanwhile, will add Canton to its other Midwest papers. While the clustering opportunities are few, the paper is big enough to run as a stand-alone property, and is near in size to Copley's other Midwest papers, Copley Chief Operating Officer Charles F. Patrick said.

Thomson:
The incredible shrinking newspaper company

The five remaining dailies of Thomson Newspapers in the United States:

The Tribune, Mesa-Scottsdale-Tempe, Ariz.(daily circulation 98,978)
Daily News-Sun, Sun City, Ariz.(20,055 - May 1998 figure)
The Yuma (Ariz.) Daily Sun (15,717)
Connecticut Post, Bridgeport (77,444)
The Key West (Fla.) Citizen(9,935) *
* Florida circculations are year-round averages

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(copyright: Editor & Publisher June 19, 2000)