Tampa Tribune launches St. Petersburg edition ...

At this point, what would you rather have: A stale gamer sent as the horn goes off, or a comprehensive package online?

How much did the Times have in print?

 

A lot of places are very close to ceasing to be a "daily" paper. If you're not going to get in the relevant news of the day in the next day's paper, you might as well close shop, shut down the presses and go online only.

 

Trib's point was they were coming into St. Pete to compete. When both papers are in the rack, and theirs says 'See TBO for results' and the Times has full coverage, which one are you going to buy?
Again, this was Florida (and to a lesser extent FGCU) in the NCAA tournament. Not some team in some game that nobody cares about.
And Trib stuff was courtesy of Florida Today.

 

Now that's how to do a fire sale.

 

You're only partly right. They're not really competing in print. The print edition is primarily a marketing tool for the real theater of competition -- online.

For the past 12 years or so, after the Tribune largely withdrew from Pinellas County, there had been little engagement with that geographic audience. That's half the metro area, and that's a problem.

So the St. Petersburg edition was created as a way to reintroduce those consumers to the Tribune/TBO brand. It's a marketing device, a billboard of sorts, for the website -- where it can and actually intends to compete. It's a way to drive traffic to TBO. And if they pick up a few Pinellas print readers along the way, it's gravy.

This is strictly about (re-)establishing market presence -- not gaining print marketshare. If you think it is, you're not thinking it through ... or you're saying everyone in management at Parker Street is an idiot.

Missing the Florida-FGCU gamer for the Pinellas edition is small potatoes compared to the bigger strategy.

 

At least they're trying something, instead of ceding everything to those insufferable pricks at the SP Times.

 

What percentage of sales does that encompass on a day that doesn't have coupons? A couple percent? Just saying.

 

You bring that kinda crap into your competitor's market, and you're just marketing the fact you're inferior.
It's an odd business model, to be sure. Look at us! We got ... nothing!
Somebody asked earlier ... Shelton and UF beat writer were in Texas with Gators. Their stuff was in print and online.
I wish the Trib gave a damn. It would be a lot more interesting.

 

Stop thinking like a sportswriter, 1HP. Don't even think like a journalist, because you will be disappointed if that's the yardstick you're using. Think like a business owner -- big picture, long haul.

The print war is over and the Times won. Everyone more or less acknowledges that. The Times is indeed the superior paper. But at a time when print readership is falling, having a stronger printed product matters less and less every day.

Not having a game story -- or, for that matter, not having a presence in Arlington -- won't register a blip in the marketplace. What might: Not having a University of Florida beat writer. That's something the Tribune needs to address if it intends to compete long-term. Outsourcing its coverage to Gannett/Florida Today isn't the way to authoritatively cover the state's most popular college sports program.

That said, the Times isn't exactly a paragon in this arena either: It has outsourced its FSU coverage to the Orlando Sentinel.

 

Outsourcing and sharing content has been going on for a long time. Nothing new there and I don't think the average reader even notices, much less cares. A game story is a game story is a game story.

What is a bigger deal is when you can't get important content in the print edition because the deadlines are ridiculously early.