You read it here first. On May 8, we noted that an ad the Examiner chain placed for a National Sales Manager said the job could be based in San Francisco (where there is an Examiner), Denver (where owner Phil Anschutz is based) or Los Angeles. Why L.A.? We speculated that it could be the next city to get one of Anschutz's Examiners. Today, the website MediaLife quotes an unnamed source as saying an Examiner will launch in Los Angeles by the end of the year. The story quotes ad buyers as welcoming the new competition (of course they would -- competition means lower prices and more convenience for them). The story also says that a reason Anschutz might go into LA "is to get in ahead of other free chains that may be eyeing the city" — a nod to Metro International and the Icelandic phone company Dagsbrun, which has funded BostonNow. It will also be interesting to see how the Republican Examiner fares in a liberal city like L.A. And given the race consciousness, it will be interesting to see how civil rights leaders react to the Examiner cherry picking upscale enclaves for distribution. Those neighborhoods the Examiner will want to reach are white and English-speaking, yet a paper that only distributes to them will probably come under fire for such a practice. That's an issue Anschutz hasn't had to deal with in his other markets.
Monday, June 11, 2007
Report: Examiner will launch in LA
You read it here first. On May 8, we noted that an ad the Examiner chain placed for a National Sales Manager said the job could be based in San Francisco (where there is an Examiner), Denver (where owner Phil Anschutz is based) or Los Angeles. Why L.A.? We speculated that it could be the next city to get one of Anschutz's Examiners. Today, the website MediaLife quotes an unnamed source as saying an Examiner will launch in Los Angeles by the end of the year. The story quotes ad buyers as welcoming the new competition (of course they would -- competition means lower prices and more convenience for them). The story also says that a reason Anschutz might go into LA "is to get in ahead of other free chains that may be eyeing the city" — a nod to Metro International and the Icelandic phone company Dagsbrun, which has funded BostonNow. It will also be interesting to see how the Republican Examiner fares in a liberal city like L.A. And given the race consciousness, it will be interesting to see how civil rights leaders react to the Examiner cherry picking upscale enclaves for distribution. Those neighborhoods the Examiner will want to reach are white and English-speaking, yet a paper that only distributes to them will probably come under fire for such a practice. That's an issue Anschutz hasn't had to deal with in his other markets.
