Newspaper publishers form Olympic consortium
By Adnews Staff
Seven Canadian newspaper publishers have formed a consortium that will package and present news, information and advertising related to the upcoming Olympic Games in Beijing and Vancouver. The seven participating companies are CanWest MediaWorks, Torstar, Gesca, Metro International, FP Canadian Newspapers, Transcontinental Media and Brunswick News. Collectively they represent 49 daily newspapers and websites in English and French. The group plans a quarterly publishing schedule between the events, as well as the production of weekly features and daily reports during the games. Each newspaper will use its own editorial resources combined with exclusive material from Canadian Press. Two publications will be issued this summer; one called “A Celebration of Canada’s Olympic Athletes” on July 1 and one called “One Year to Beijing” on Aug. 8. Advertising sales for the consortium are being handled by Sports Media Marketing Group, an entity consisting of advertising executives with experience in Olympic marketing. Chairman and senior partner Jim Byrd was previously vice-president of English television networks at the CBC, while managing partner Peter Kretz was previously at the CBC and Labatt. Dennis Threndyle is the third partner. “This innovative initiative by 49 of Canada’s leading daily newspapers will deliver a circulation of 3.5 million and an estimated reach of 35% of Canada’s adult population, while their online sites add an additional 17% reach,” said Byrd. “This combination provides greater reach than any television network and offers advertisers a superb tie-in to ongoing interest in the Olympics between now and London 2012.” According to Kretz, the consortium’s product has already be presented to a number of agencies. “Response has been very encouraging at all levels to the fact that this will be a consistent, long term advertising opportunity,” he said.