Philadelphia Daily News to launch a weekend edition in fall
Philadelphia Business Journal - by Peter Van Allen Staff Writer

Fresh from winning a Pulitzer Prize, the publisher of the Philadelphia Daily News said Tuesday the newspaper will launch a weekend edition in October.

It hopes to extend its readership by offering weekend entertainment, sports, gossip and politics coverage. The publication will aim for younger readers, and offer different coverage than its sister publication, the Philadelphia Sunday Inquirer.

Brian Tierney, president and CEO of the newspaper’s parent company, made the announcement at the Newspaper Advertising Association’s mediaXchange conference in Orlando, Fla.

Daily News Editor Michael Days said, “The new Daily News weekend edition will carry the same DNA as the daily paper and will also include one longer form article as well as numerous quick read features which subscribers can read all week long. This new publication will have a longer shelf life so people can read it all week and see something new every time they pick it up.”

Philadelphia advertising executive Steven Grasse — whose clients include Sailor Jerry Rum, Hendricks Gin and Spike TV — was hired as a “special consultant” to bring “attytood” to the new publication, according to the press release announcing the new edition.

The weekend edition will appear on Saturdays and replace the Daily News' current Saturday edition.

On Monday, the Daily News won a Pulitzer for investigative reporting, winning for a yearlong series that exposed tactics used by a police narcotics squad.

In the bigger picture, the parent company of the Inquirer and Daily News, Philadelphia Media Holdings LLC, has been burdened by $318 million in debt. Dating to February 2009, it has been reorganizing its finances under Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection. The company acquired the two newspapers in 2006.

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