I wrote a while back about the New Orleans Times-Picayune, one of the nation's most respected daily papers, cutting back to three print editions a week, putting its daily coverage online. The folks in NoLo were not at all happy about it, but the owner and publisher of the Times-Picayune is newspaper mega-publisher Advance Publications, and they've been making similar moves with many of their other papers throughout the country.
So here's some encouraging news that says the paper will publish five days a week beginning in September, to satisfy advertisers who want to connect with readers during football season. It's about getting more ad dollars, really, but it will help local readers too and maybe, with some luck, the publisher will continue the expanded print schedule after football has ended.
Here's how it was reported this morning in MediaLife...
The New Orleans Times-Picayune is slowly walking back on the decision made two years ago to publish a print edition only three days a week.
The newspaper has decided to add home delivery of a Saturday and Monday edition this fall, Advance Publications announced recently.
The decision coincides with the football season, beginning Sept. 6 and lasting until the hometown New Orleans Saints’ last game, which could go all the way through to February.
The extra papers will come at no cost to print subscribers, who usually receive Tuesday, Thursday and Sunday editions.
“Our readers’ interest peaks in the fall and so does our advertisers’ desire to reach them,” the paper said in an article announcing the change. “We are expanding our print coverage to meet the heightened reader intensity and to serve our advertisers, who depend on us to reach their customers.”