June 2002, Headlines
Panhandle newspapers launch regional product
Eleven Panhandle newspapers have created a unique partnership and launched a regional shopper that boasts 25,000 paid circulation.
Spearheaded by Rollie Hyde at the Plainview Daily Herald and Brad Tooley at The Canyon News, the West Texas Country Trader is a broadsheet product that blankets the Panhandle, reaching as far north as Borger, about 50 miles northeast of Amarillo, and south to Crosbyton, about 40 miles east of Lubbock.
“It’s been well received by the advertisers and readers and we’re already seeing a difference in our bottom line,” Roger Estlack, publisher of The Clarendon Enterprise, said.
The publication began in April and is distributed weekly through the 11 participating newspapers as well as free in racks in some areas.
Hyde said he and Tooley had tried regional products before but none ever took off. This time the plan was expanded to include other newspapers thus bumping up the paid distribution giving potential advertisers a much wider market.
“It appears that we made some money on the first month,” Hyde said.
“Most towns have some advertisers that have a need for regional advertising.”
Two dailies and nine weekly and semiweekly newspapers participate in the Country Trader. They include dailies Borger News Herald and Plainview Daily Herald, and non-dailies Abernathy Weekly Review, The Canyon News, Castro County News, The Clarendon Enterprise, Crosby County Reporter-Examiner, The Eagle Press Fritch, Idalou Beacon, Sudan Beacon News and Morton Tribune.
The participating newspapers buy space in the publication for about $1 an inch and then sell it to local advertisers for up to $10 an inch, depending on the size. Each agrees to insert the publication weekly into their regular product and incur costs only when they sell ads.
The pages are sold in one-eighth page increments to participating newspapers and each handles its own client billing.
The Country Trader is printed at two separate plants — Plainview and Borger — and participants in the north and south sections of the circulation area pick up copies there or have them inserted directly into their regular editions if they are printed at the same facility.
Each of the newspapers transmits its weekly ads electronically. The publication is running about eight pages but Hyde said he hopes it will continue to grow.
West Texas Country Trader Participating Newspapers
Dailies
Borger News Herald
Plainview Daily Herald
Weeklies / Semiweeklies
Abernathy Weekly Review
The Canyon News
Castro County News
The Clarendon Enterprise
Crosby County Reporter-Examiner
The Eagle Press Fritch
Idalou Beacon
Sudan Beacon News
Morton Tribune