Chicago Tribune Phil Rosenthal Column: RedEye to Expand Circulation to Suburbs

Oct 29, 07:46 AM

Current Headlines: By Phil Rosenthal, Chicago Tribune

Oct. 29--On the day before its fifth anniversary, RedEye, the Chicago Tribune's free compact weekday edition, is scheduled to increase its distribution by a third, to 200,000, expanding its reach well into the suburbs.

Beginning Monday morning, RedEye is to be available at Chicago-area Metra train stations. The move puts it in the mix for readers not just with the Tribune and its rival, the Chicago Sun-Times, but also suburban publications such as the Arlington Heights-based Daily Herald.

"Five years ago, if you had asked us where we would be now, it would be right around where we're at," said Brad Moore, RedEye's general manager. "It probably took us a little bit longer to get where we were after three years because we were still charging for it, and what we've done in the last couple years [as a free paper] is accelerate those years somewhat to get us where we wanted to be."

RedEye launched on Oct. 30, 2002, a quick read initially forced to compete for the young commuters it targeted with Red Streak, a similar publication from the Sun-Times, which viewed RedEye as a threat to its market share. Red Streak ceased publication in late 2005, two months after RedEye officially dropped its 25-cent-per-copy charge, though most copies had been given away free since its debut.

John Cruickshank, the since-departed publisher of Sun-Times, said in an interview in October 2006 that "single-copy occasional buy" of the Sun-Times "has been really hit by RedEye." The Tribune is less reliant on single-copy sales, and Moore said there has been "very little" cannibalization of its readership by RedEye to date, but he concedes that "certainly the chances of it go up" with RedEye's suburban expansion.

"Our belief has always been with RedEye that it's a different audience and a different value proposition that's a complement to the Chicago Tribune, but we'll see," Moore said. "In some ways, we're going into the Tribune's sweet spots. We're also going into Daily Herald spots. Even the Sun-Times is fairly strong along the south Metra lines. ... But every time we've done something with RedEye, it's always been about trying to reach the audience we're going after, not somebody else's."

Moore said he believes some suburbanites already are grabbing a RedEye.

"Research shows us a lot of people are reading it on the way out" of the city, he said. "Now they'll have the option of reading us on the way in."

RedEye this year also added a free home-delivered Saturday edition.

RedEye's expansion into the suburbs is not without cost, however.

Its editorial deadline will move from midnight to 11 p.m. to accommodate the larger press run, though there also will be a later edition available in the city with a later deadline as events warrant.

RedEye's advertising rate card will increase to account for greater reach.

"We will certainly work with our existing advertisers to ensure we're meeting their needs and being reasonable," Moore said.

There is no plan to zone advertising at this time, he said, but "it's something we're closer to considering."

Moore said there may be a "very minimal" increase in staff because of the expansion, including the potential addition of one newsroom position.

Because it is a free publication, RedEye's circulation doesn't really compare with those of traditional daily papers that charge. But for the half-year that ended in March, the most recent figures available from the Schaumburg-based Audit Bureau of Circulations, the Tribune has a weekday paid circulation of 566,827 and the Daily Herald's paid weekday circulation is 151,190.

The last available figures for the Sun-Times -- which is under ABC censure for misreporting figures, enabling it to overcharge advertisers -- showed its paid weekday circulation at 349,968 as of September 2005.

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philrosenthal@tribune.com

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