The Tampa Bay Times has agreed to a five-year contract to print its longtime competitor, The Tampa Tribune, the companies announced today.
The arrangement is not unprecedented. The Boston Globe prints the Boston Herald; the Chicago Tribune prints the Chicago Sun-Times; and The Dallas Morning News prints the Fort Worth Star-Telegram.
As financial pressures have grown in recent years, many newspapers have chosen to economize by getting rid of their presses and contracting the work out. Those who retain printing presses have tried to build a profit center by taking on other publications.
The Tampa Bay Times also prints USA TODAY.
More than 25 years ago, the Times began to expand into neighboring Tampa with a daily zoned edition. It later launched a free tabloid edition, TBT, partly targeted to Tampa’s younger demographic.
At the start of 2012, The St. Petersburg Times was renamed The Tampa Bay Times to reflect the regional focus. And for a decade, the Times paid for naming rights at the hockey arena and concert venue in downtown Tampa, also home to the Republican National Convention in 2012.
Poynter owns the Times. The Tribune was long part of the Media General group, but was sold to a Los Angeles-based investment firm, Revolution Capital Group in October 2012 as Media General exited the newspaper business to become a local broadcast and digital company.
