The Sun-Times News Group announced today it has joined with more than 700 newspapers to enhance its online advertising offerings and increase its sizable audiences through a strategic alliance with Yahoo! Inc.
Already one of the top Web sites in the Chicago area for local and national news, sports entertainment and advertising, the Yahoo! affiliation will further enhance the exposure of what are now the 15th most-viewed newspaper online sites in the country. The Sun-Times News Group features more than 70 local Web sites, including suntimes.com, linked to its newspapers that provide more than 200 communities with information unique to their cities and neighborhoods.
"The Sun-Times News Group reaches 4.2 million print and online readers each week, and serves the Chicago area more comprehensively than any other news company. This partnership with Yahoo! will allow the Sun-Times News Group to provide improved capabilities and platforms for our national, regional and local advertisers to reach their desired customers," said Rick Surkamer, Chief Operating Officer for the Sun-Times News Group.
The agreement includes:
- The ability for the Sun-Times News Group to offer a one-stop buying experience for advertisers; Sun-Times News Group sales representatives can cross-sell local advertising on Yahoo!, and Yahoo!'s national sales force would sell national advertising on Sun-Times News Group sites;
- Using Yahoo! technology to offer to Sun-Times News Group advertising clients graphical advertising and targeted search functions; Advertisers can take advantage of the sizable online advertising network powered by Yahoo!;
- Distributing local news stories across multiple Yahoo! properties and sites, to increase the number of online viewers who see Sun-Times News Group ads;
- Yahoo! technologies allow the Sun-Times News Group to offer behavioral targeting to enhance advertising effectiveness.
"We continue to seek out opportunities to better serve the Chicagoland advertising community," said Mr. Surkamer. "Our partnership with Yahoo! is another major step in that quest. Stay tuned for future developments."
The Sun-Times News Group's collection of 71 newspaper titles include the Chicago Sun-Times; The Beacon News (Aurora), The Herald News (Joliet), Lake County News-Sun, The Courier News (Elgin), SouthtownStar, The Naperville Sun, the Post-Tribune (Merrillville, Ind.) and 51 Pioneer Press titles.
Members of the Yahoo! Newspaper Consortium include 780 newspapers and 32 newspaper companies, representing 41 percent of all Sunday paid circulation. Members include: Belo Corp., Black Press, Buffalo News, Calkins Media, Inc., Columbus Dispatch, The Columbian Publishing Company, Cox Newspapers, The Day Publishing Company, The E.W. Scripps Company, GateHouse Media, Inc., Hearst Newspapers, Herald Media, Inc., Independent Newspapers, Journal Register Company, Journal Sentinel, Lee Enterprises, McClatchy Company, Media General, Inc., MediaNews Group, Inc., Morris Communications Company LLC, New York Daily News, New York Times Regional Group, Paddock Publications Inc, Paxton Media Group, Philadelphia Media Holdings LLC, Shaw Newspapers, Stephens Media Group; Times-Shamrock Communications, The Times Publishing Company, the Tribune Review Publishing Company and Yankton Media.
The newspapers represented by the Newspaper Consortium include major market dailies such as the Akron Beacon Journal, The Atlanta Journal-Constitution, The Boston Herald, The Commercial Appeal (Memphis), The Dallas Morning News, The Denver Post, The Florida Times-Union, Honolulu Star-Bulletin, Houston Chronicle, The Miami Herald, Milwaukee Journal Sentinel, New Haven Register, Orange County Register, The Philadelphia Daily News and The Philadelphia Inquirer, The Rocky Mountain News, St. Louis Post-Dispatch, The Sacramento Bee, San Francisco Chronicle, San Jose Mercury News and The Tampa Tribune.
About the Sun-Times News Group
The Sun-Times News Group is the operating subsidiary of Sun-Times Media Group, Inc. (PinkSheets:SUTM), which is dedicated to being the premier source of local news and information for the greater Chicago area. Its media properties include the Chicago Sun-Times and Suntimes.com as well as newspapers and Web sites serving more than 200 communities across Chicago. Further information can be found at www.thesuntimesgroup.com.
Cautionary Statement on Forward-Looking Statements
Certain statements made in this release are "forward-looking statements" within the meaning of the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995 (the "Act"). Forward-looking statements include, without limitation, any statement that may predict, forecast, indicate or imply future results, performance or achievements, and may contain the words "believe," "anticipate," "expect," "estimate," "project," "will be," "will continue," "will likely result," "plan,"or similar words or phrases. Forward-looking statements involve risks and uncertainties, which may cause actual results to differ materially from the forward-looking statements. The risks and uncertainties are detailed from time to time in reports filed by Sun-Times Media Group with the Securities and Exchange Commission, including in its Forms 10-K and 10-Q. New risk factors emerge from time to time and it is not possible for management to predict all such risk factors, nor can it assess the impact of all such risk factors on the Company's business or the extent to which any factor, or combination of factors, may cause actual results to differ materially from those contained in any forward-looking statements. Given these risks and uncertainties, investors should not place undue reliance on forward-looking statements as a prediction of actual results.
