The consolidation of Honolulu's two rival dailies is expected to begin one minute after midnight on Monday when Honolulu Star-Bulletin owner Black Press concludes its purchase of The Honolulu Advertiser from Gannett Co.
Both papers will continue to operate and be distributed for 30 to 60 days until Black Press' subsidiary, Oahu Publications Inc., is ready to introduce its new daily broadsheet, the Honolulu Star-Advertiser, said Dennis Francis, Star-Bulletin publisher and Oahu Publications president.
Subscribers will continue to get both publications until they seamlessly transition to the new product, he said, and current subscriptions will be honored. The company also will extend subscriptions for those who take both papers, combining time left on the two subscriptions with no additional charge.
Star-Bulletin employees will work from their Waterfront Plaza headquarters, which also will be the Star-Advertiser's home. Once Oahu Publications determines staffing needs, job offers and layoffs will occur, Francis said. The Star-Advertiser's overall staffing will fall somewhere between the 300-person Star-Bulletin and the 600-person Advertiser, he said.
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David Black spent more than $100 million and fought along with Star-Bulletin workers for nearly a decade to publish a 52,000-circulation paper and carve out a profitable share of the Honolulu market. But since economies of scale favored Gannett's 115,000-circulation paper, The Honolulu Advertiser, it was an uneven newspaper war.
Many are quick to compare Black to the biblical David who defeated the Philistine giant and went on to become the king of the Israelites, but it is not an analogy that he would use to describe the prelude to Gannett's exit from Hawaii.
"This wasn't a victory," he told Star-Bulletin workers on Feb. 25 when he announced his decision to buy the Advertiser, which Gannett had owned since 1993.
According to industry analyst John Morton, "Gannett was essentially the winner in all this, but they elected to withdraw by selling."
"At some point in a competitive situation, even when you have a company with very deep pockets, if they suspect that their opponent is going to stick in there even if it is losing money—it just might not be worth it for them to stay," he said.
TIMELINE
1962 » The Honolulu Star-Bulletin and its morning rival, The Honolulu Advertiser, set up a third company under a joint operating agreement (JOA), the Hawaii Newspaper Agency, to handle noneditorial and production functions of both papers. The Sunday Star-Bulletin and Advertiser are combined.
1971 » Gannett Co. enters the Hawaii market with its purchase of the 128,000-circulation Star-Bulletin from the Ho-Atherton Group.
1993 » Gannett announces it will sell the 88,000-circulation Star-Bulletin to Liberty Newspapers LP in a move that will allow it to acquire the Advertiser. Later that year it gives the Advertiser complete control of the Sunday paper. The Star-Bulletin, which for some years produced the Sunday features and real estate sections, would no longer be involved.
1999 » Gannett offers Rupert Phillips, the owner of Liberty Newspapers, a payment to close down the Star-Bulletin, whose circulation has fallen to 67,124. The state of Hawaii and concerned citizens groups file lawsuits against Liberty and Gannett to keep the Star-Bulletin running. A court injunction stops the shutdown.
2000 » Gannett and Liberty put the Star-Bulletin on the market to satisfy antitrust concerns.
» Gannett and Liberty sell the 61,976-circulation Star-Bulletin to Canadian-based Black Press.
2001 » The JOA between Gannett and Liberty ends when the Star-Bulletin moves to Waterfront Plaza and begins its new era under Oahu Publications, a subsidiary of Black Press. Gannett starts an afternoon edition of the Advertiser to compete against Black and reports a circulation of 151,808 daily and 176,727 on Sunday, which puts it among the 75 largest newspapers in the country.
2009 » Gannett tells employees the Advertiser is not profitable. It lays off workers and gets its unions to agree to a 10 percent wage concession and furloughs for remaining workers.
2010 » Gannett sells the Advertiser to Black Press and exits the Hawaii news market, although its ties to Honolulu will continue for as long as it retains ownership of its former headquarters at 605 Kapiolani Blvd.
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