Wall Street Journal will add weekends in 2005

Posted by Bertrand Pecquerie on September 16, 2004 at 10:03 AM

The Sunday/Weekend market is really very dynamic. According to Reuters, "Dow Jones & Co. Inc. plans to launch a weekend edition of the Wall Street Journal next September, adding more lifestyle coverage to attract advertisers for travel, consumer electronics and luxury goods, the company said Wednesday. The new edition of the No. 1 U.S. business newspaper, currently published only on weekdays, will start Saturday, Sept. 10, 2005, delivered to subscribers at no additional charge. Analysts said it would challenge the Sunday edition of the New York Times... The decision, which entails the hiring of about 150 new editorial employees and an expansion of the Journal's sales staff, is part of a move to broaden its base of advertisers as newspaper publishers wrestle with a slump in technology and travel ad dollars."

"If I was the New York Times, I'd be worried," said Edward Atorino, an analyst at Fulcrum Global Partners. The flagship paper of New York Times Co., long viewed as a marquee destination for national consumer ads, recently launched a separate fashion magazine insert.

The decision to launch was bolstered by its success with Personal Journal and Weekend Journal sections of the paper. Those sections, added in recent years, now account for approximately 30 percent of its advertising dollars, according to analyst estimates.

Source: Reuters through CNN Money

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