Newspapers strike back

Newspapers strike back to form a new advertising medium:

NEW YORK - Four major newspaper publishers have created an online advertising sales network in the latest industry attempt to claw back ad dollars that are increasingly migrating to the Internet.

Gannett and Tribune, the largest and second-largest publishers in the country, are joining Hearst and the New York Times Co. to form a company that will sell online ad space across a network of newspapers in many large cities including New York, Los Angeles and Chicago.

The joint venture, which launched Friday, will be based in Chicago and operate under the name QuadrantOne. It won't include USA Today or the New York Times itself, which already have significant online ad sales operations of their own. It will include the Boston Globe, which is owned by the New York Times Co.

Dana Hayes, an executive with Tribune's interactive division, was named interim CEO. In an interview, Hayes declined to disclose how much the four companies had invested in the venture, but said it would employ a staff of 17 people, mainly in sales and sales support positions. It is looking to sign up new affiliates, but the four initial investors will be the only owners.

Each of the more than 120 newspapers in the network will contribute standard units of online advertising to a pool which will then be sold to advertisers, Hayes said.

The network will be able to sell ads by region and also by news category depending on where they appear on a newspaper's Web site,
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such as sports, business or health. The network will also include the Web sites of dozens of TV stations.

Hayes said the network will be fully operational by April 1.