Gannett to Add USA Today to Local Papers

Gannett Company, one of the nation’s largest newspaper chains, will try to expand its advertising and circulation revenue by inserting parts of its flagship newspaper, USA Today, into its local newspapers.

Beginning in January, Gannett will add 12 to 14 pages of USA Today content each day to 35 newspapers in its largest markets, including The Journal News in White Plains (NY), The Tennessean in Nashville and The Cincinnati Enquirer. That means readers, along with their local news, will get a broader mix of news from the USA Today content. Gannett has been testing the program at four papers -- in Indianapolis; Rochester; Fort Myers (FL); and Appleton (WI) -- since October and plans to add the new markets throughout the first quarter of 2014. Eventually it plans to extend the program to all of its 81 local newspaper markets. By incorporating USA Today into local papers, Gannett is able to increase the national paper’s circulation by roughly 1.5 million readers during the week and 2.5 million readers on Sundays, and then try to sell advertising against these larger numbers.