Two US competing papers will stage joint auction event
Newspaper auctions are being adopted by increasing numbers of newspapers as an effective tool for generating alternative revenues. CityXpress Corp., provider of auctions for newspapers announces that the Fort Worth Star-Telegram and The Dallas Morning News will stage a cooperative online auction event in April 2004.
Source: CityXpress Corp. press release.
Branded as "DFW Auction Site," the event will mark the first joint auction staged by two competing major metropolitan daily newspapers. Rather than compete in attracting advertisers and consumers to participate in the event, both newspapers will jointly contribute to and promote the auction.
"The newspaper auction is clearly a strategy that is good for both newspapers and the communities they serve," said Mike Winter, vice president of advertising for the Fort Worth Star-Telegram. "By working cooperatively with Dallas Morning News we believe we'll offer an event in which the entire Fort Worth/Dallas community will want to take part."
CityXpress staged its first auction in 2001, and has staged more than 130 event auctions for newspapers, generating more than $27 million for newspapers to date.
The April auction will be the first for both The Morning News and the Star-Telegram. Combined circulations of the two dailies exceed 800,000, and make the event the largest CityXpress has staged to date.
"We are anticipating the joint venture in Dallas/Fort Worth will prove greater than the sum of its parts and reap even greater rewards for all those involved," said Phil Dubois, CEO of CityXpress.
ABOUT CITYXPRESS
CityXpress (www.cityxpress.com), the leading supplier of event auctions and online special sections for the newspaper industry, has pioneered event auctions for newspapers since 2001. CityXpress has worked with more than 150 newspapers across the United States and Canada to date to stage local auctions through its hosted software and on-site sales and service support. The company currently provides services to newspaper companies including Knight Ridder, MediaNews Group, Cox Enterprises, McClatchy, CanWest Global, Lee Enterprises, Scripps Howard, Freedom Newspapers and the New York Times Company. CityXpress is headquartered in Vancouver BC, with offices in Seattle, Tampa and Fort Walton Beach Fla., and Winnipeg MB.
ABOUT FORT WORTH STAR-TELEGRAM
Founded in 1906, the Star-Telegram (www.star-telegram.com) is distributed in 23 North Texas counties, and reaches more than one million readers over the course of a week. The Star-Telegram is owned by Knight Ridder, Inc., the nation's second-largest newspaper publisher.
ABOUT THE DALLAS MORNING NEWS
The Dallas Morning News (www.dallasnews.com) began publishing on Oct. 1, 1885. It is published by the oldest business institution in Texas, Belo Corp., which has chronicled Texas history for more than 160 years. The Dallas Morning News reaches more than one million readers daily, and 1.5 million on Sundays.
The whole press release on Business Wire.
