Rupert Murdoch is expanding his American empire. He is buying two small chains of weekly newspapers published outside of Manhattan which cater mostly to minorities. Neither its expected will add to the profit or circulation of his NY flagship, the New York Post, but will be an irritant to his big rival The Daily News which has been expanding lately into these same areas.
How much Murdoch paid for the two chains – consisting of 28 weekly papers – has not been officially disclosed but is said be around $16 million. The two chains have a total circulation of around 140,000 – which is small beer compared to the NY Post’s circulation of just under 700,000. But the Post is closing in on the Daily News, which has an official circulation of 708,000.
The new acquisitions will offer The Post an opportunity to offer advertisers extra exposure in the outer reaches of the city. Also ‘community newspapers” have been unusually profitable lately. So if nothing else buying the two groups is probably a good investment.
At the same time Murdoch is revamping the NY Post website. It will now offer up-to-the-minute sports reports., a dating service and something called “celebrity sightings” which will keep anyone interested appraised of where celebrities are wining or dining.
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