Broad Street Community Newspapers Acquires Star Publications

Posted on May 14, 2004

Knight Ridder has announced that Broad Street Community Newspapers (BSCN), a subsidiary of Philadelphia Newspapers, Inc., has acquired the assets of Star Publications, a weekly newspaper company. Star publishes seven weekly titles in Philadelphia: The Art Museum Home News, The Girard Home News, The Port Richmond Star, The Fishtown Star, The Bridesburg Star, The Three Star and The North Star.

Knight Ridder Newspaper Division President Steve Rossi said, "The acquisition of Star Publications is a good example of Knight Ridder's strategy of expanding in non-core print publications in our newspaper markets. By coupling them with Trend and Northeast Times -- already in place as 'total market coverage' supplements to The Philadelphia Inquirer and the Philadelphia Daily News -- we can provide advertisers with a rich variety of alternatives for reaching their customer base. They have our core metro dailies, with circulation of more than 530,000 daily and more than 750,000 Sunday. And they have the shoppers and weeklies, reaching very targeted audiences, with a combined circulation of 1,000,000."

The circulation of BSCN's weekly community newspapers is now 1,000,000. The Northeast Times and Star publications are carrier-delivered in the city of Philadelphia to approximately 180,000 households. Trend is mailed in four Pennsylvania counties (Bucks, Montgomery, Chester and Delaware) and three New Jersey counties (Burlington, Camden and Gloucester) to approximately 820,000 households. BSCN also publishes CareerBuilder Employment Weekly, a free jobs publication distributed through convenience stores and freestanding racks.

Knight Ridder is the nation's second-largest newspaper publisher, with products in print and online. The company publishes 31 daily newspapers in 28 U.S. markets, with a readership of 8.7 million daily and 12.6 million Sunday. Knight Ridder also has investments in a variety of Internet and technology companies and two newsprint companies. The company's Internet operation, Knight Ridder Digital, develops and manages the company's online properties. It is the founder and operator of Real Cities, a national network of city and regional websites in more than 100 U.S. markets. Knight Ridder and Knight Ridder Digital are headquartered in San Jose, Calif.