Six Newspapers Launch Region-Wide 'Value Network' Preprint Distribution Program

Six Newspapers Launch Region-Wide 'Value Network' Preprint Distribution Program

Collaborative, Total-Market Program Targets Up to 7.2 Million Households Weekly

LOS ANGELES, Feb. 17 /PRNewswire/ -- Five Southern California and one Nevada newspaper have launched "Value Network," a collaborative total-market preprint program offering advertisers a unique new vehicle for cost-effectively reaching up to 7.2 million households every week in the newspapers' combined distribution area.

The six participating newspapers are the Las Vegas Review-Journal, Los Angeles Times, The Orange County Register, The Press-Enterprise (Riverside, Calif.), The San Diego Union-Tribune and Ventura County Star (Ventura, Calif.).

On Thursdays and Fridays, the six newspapers will distribute preprint insert packages to their respective home-delivery subscribers and, through alternate delivery and unduplicated direct mail, to non-subscribers. This distribution reaches 24 percent of the region's geographic footprint through the newspapers' preferred subscriber base, and provides advertisers with a far larger geographic footprint than any one newspaper can now offer. Value Network also offers the strategic capability to time pre-print distribution with consumer end-of-week purchasing habits.

Advertisers can combine Value Network home delivery distribution with non-subscriber distribution services and other advertising products already being offered -- and which will continue to be offered -- individually by each newspaper. Value Network distribution also can supplement new or enhance ongoing cross-promotional, branding, call-to-action and online campaigns.

Each network member newspaper is authorized to sell Value Network products and services, and will manage order fulfillment, billing, collections and other administrative activities for its Value Network customers. If a Value Network advertiser prefers a single invoice, a third-party vendor will provide centralized billing and collection for all of the network newspapers.

The Daily Breeze (Torrance, Calif.) is providing supplemental distribution for the six Value Network newspapers.

Value Network features:
* Network products may be purchased through any of the six network
newspapers;
* Option of one-order, one-bill preprint distribution;
* Competitive rates designed to provide an attractive alternative to
other saturation products now on the market;
* Zone, Zip Code and non-subscriber sub-Zip Code distribution options;
* Preprints packaged into insert jackets for distribution by each
newspaper; and
* Centralized toll-free customer service center for bill processing,
customer inquiries and replacement copy requests.

About the Las Vegas Review-Journal


The Las Vegas Review-Journal, Nevada's largest daily morning newspaper, has been meeting the information needs of Southern Nevada for 99 years. With a weekday circulation of 160,391, the Review-Journal serves the Las Vegas Valley, one of the fastest-growing metropolitan areas in the United States. The newspaper also circulates in Boulder City, Mount Charleston, Mesquite, Pahrump, Nye County, Lincoln County, northern Arizona and southern Utah. The Review-Journal is a member of the Stephens Media Group, which owns 12 newspapers, weekly newspapers, specialty publications, a book publishing company and an Internet services division.

In 1990, the Las Vegas Review-Journal and the Las Vegas Sun entered into under a joint operating agreement approved by the U.S. Attorney General. Under the agreement, the Review-Journal handles advertising, circulation and production for both newspapers. The news staffs, however, remain completely independent. The Review-Journal is published mornings and the Sun afternoons Monday-Friday and the papers have joint weekend editions.

About the Los Angeles Times

The Los Angeles Times, a Tribune Publishing company, is the largest metropolitan daily newspaper in the country and the winner of 35 Pulitzer Prizes, including five in 2004 -- the second-largest yearly total in the history of the awards. The Times publishes five daily regional editions including the Los Angeles metropolitan area, Orange and Ventura counties, the San Fernando Valley, and an Inland Empire edition covering Riverside and San Bernardino counties as well as a National edition.

For the six months ended Sept. 30, 2004, the Los Angeles Times reported Monday-Saturday average daily circulation of 902,164 and Sunday circulation of 1,292,274.

Additional information about The Times is available at www.latimes.com/mediacenter.

About The Orange County Register

Based in Santa Ana, Calif., Freedom Orange County Information has a portfolio of media products, including The Orange County Register, 24 community weeklies (including Spanish-language Excelsior), OCRegister.com, myOC.com, OCExcelsior.com, GolfExtra membership card, and Orange County Home and Coast magazines. The Register, which has a circulation of more than 303,000 daily and 371,000 on Sunday, is a Pulitzer Prize-winning newspaper and is celebrating its 100-year anniversary in 2005.

Freedom Communications, Inc., headquartered in Irvine, Calif., is a privately-owned diverse media company of newspapers, broadcast television stations and interactive media businesses. The company and its affiliates publish 28 daily and 41 weekly newspapers, with a combined daily circulation of more than 1.2 million subscribers, the largest of which is The Orange County Register.

About The Press-Enterprise

The Press-Enterprise newspaper, headquartered in Riverside, has a circulation of 190,000 copies daily and 192,000 copies on Sunday. It is "Inland Southern California's newspaper" and enjoys a daily readership of 518,500 adults and 558,000 on Sunday throughout fast-growing Riverside and San Bernardino counties. The Press-Enterprise Company also publishes seven weekly newspapers; a weekly business tabloid; weekly magazines serving employment, automotive and real estate advertisers; and a weekly total market coverage product. The company also operates NewsLink, a 24-hour voice information service; PE.net, an Internet service provider; and PE.com, a regional online information portal.

The company is a subsidiary of Belo Corp.

About The San Diego Union-Tribune


The San Diego Union-Tribune, a Copley Press publication with a daily circulation of nearly 355,000 and Sunday circulation of nearly 444,500, is the third-largest daily newspaper in California. The Union-Tribune reaches 855,800 adults each weekday and 1,085,345 on Sunday. The newspaper publishes five zoned editions that serve communities throughout the area. In addition, the Union-Tribune publishes Enlace, a weekly Spanish-language newspaper reaching the growing Hispanic population. The company also operates SignOnSanDiego.com, the leading online source of local news, entertainment information and classifieds in the San Diego region.

About the Ventura County Star

The Ventura County Star publishes six zoned editions daily throughout Ventura County with a circulation of 100,517 (Thursday-Saturday) and 106,999 on Sundays, according to the Mar. 21, 2004 ABC Audit. The Star is owned by the E.W. Scripps Co., a diverse media company based in Cincinnati with interests in newspapers, broadcast television, national television networks, interactive media and television retailing. The company operates 21 daily newspapers, 15 broadcast TV stations, four cable and satellite television programming networks and a television retailing network.


Source: Value Network

CONTACT: David Garcia, +1-213-237-4715, david.garcia@latimes.com, for
Value Network

Web site: http://www.signonsandiego.com/

Web site: http://www.myoc.com/

Web site: http://www.pe.com/

Web site: http://www.ocregister.com/

Web site: http://www.ocexcelsior.com/

Web site: http://www.latimes.com/mediacenter


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