Medianews Group

MediaNews Group, owner of the Dallas Times Herald, announced today that one of its affiliates has acquired the Houston Post from Toronto Sun Publishing Co. for $150 million in cash. The Post is the smaller of the two Houston newspapers, which have been engaged in a war similar to the battle between the Dallas Times Herald and the larger Dallas Morning News. In March, MediaNews President William Dean Singleton bid $415 million for the Houston Chronicle, which was sold by Houston Endowment Inc.

Jon Lord Deep Purple keyboard player Jon Lord, 71, a British keyboardist for Deep Purple and Whitesnake, died in London on Monday of a pulmonary embolism after a battle with pancreatic cancer, said a statement on his official website. Lord co-wrote some of Deep Purple's most famous tunes, including "Smoke on the Water," and later had a successful solo career after his retirement from the band in 2002. The Leicester, England-born musician got his start playing piano, first taking classical music lessons before shifting to rock 'n' roll.

Times Mirror Co., publisher of the Los Angeles Times, said Thursday it formed an advertising alliance with MediaNews Group's Los Angeles-area newspapers and made a minority investment in the MediaNews affiliate that oversees those and other papers. Closely held MediaNews and its affiliate, Garden State Newspapers Inc., are run by William Dean Singleton of Denver. He and Times Mirror declined to specify the terms or amount of the investment.

The Orange County Register and six other daily newspapers have been sold to a Boston investment group in what is expected to be the final sale of properties owned by Freedom Communications Holdings Inc. in Irvine. Terms of the sale to the investment group 2100 Trust were not disclosed. The group is headed by Aaron Kushner, a Stanford University graduate who formerly headed a greeting card company. His investment group sought unsuccessfully to buy the Boston Globe last year. "We believe that newspapers are essential to the fabric of our lives and are excited to own and grow these unique institutions," Kushner, 39, said in a statement.

The Press-Telegram and Daily Breeze, two newspapers owned by MediaNews Group Inc., will cut staff and merge their Internet, copy editing and pagination operations in response to sagging ad revenue, an editor said Monday. The move involves the loss of nine jobs at the Daily Breeze, located in Torrance, and about 10 jobs at the Press-Telegram in Long Beach, Daily Breeze Editor Phillip Sanfield said.

At least two and possibly three prospective buyers are expected to submit bids today for Knight Ridder Inc., the second-largest U.S. newspaper chain. A deal could be announced within days, said bankers familiar with the process, although if the bids are close, the auction could drag out for weeks. Two of the three potential bids are from newspaper companies. McClatchy Co. is expected to make an offer, as is an alliance that includes No. 1 chain Gannett Co.

MediaNews Group Inc., the Denver company that owns the Daily News and seven other Southland newspapers, is emerging as a leading contender to snap up some of the papers being put on the auction block as a result of Monday's sale of Knight Ridder Inc. McClatchy Co. said it would buy the larger Knight Ridder for $4.5 billion in cash and stock, making the owner of the Sacramento Bee, the Fresno Bee and 10 other daily papers the second-largest newspaper chain in the nation based on circulation.

William Dean Singleton, chief executive of MediaNews Group, the company that owns the Houston Post, has become the newspaper's publisher. Donald F. Hunt, the former publisher, has been named president of MediaNews International, a new company owned by Singleton and MediaNews Chairman Richard Scudder, which was formed for international acquisitions. Singleton and Scudder own MediaNews Group, parent company of the Post, the Denver Post and 47 other newspapers in nine states.

The Hearst Corp. has recorded $330 million in losses in its investment in the San Francisco Chronicle and attempted to sell the newspaper to MediaNews Group Inc., according to court documents made public in a media antitrust case. Terms of the 2005 proposal were not revealed. MediaNews did not offer enough, so no deal was made.

George Riggs, chief executive of MediaNews Group Inc.'s California Newspaper Partnership, said he would resign at the end of January. Riggs, boss for 18 months, has been overseeing 33 daily and 57 weekly newspapers.

Buyout negotiations between the parent of the Orange County Register and MediaNews Group Inc. have collapsed over a disagreement about the value of the company, according to a person familiar with the matter. The Denver company, which owns 29 California newspapers, is believed to have offered about $700 million to purchase Freedom Communications Inc. The negotiations had been viewed as a potential first step toward an expected wave of consolidation in the region's newspaper industry as companies look for new ways to reduce overhead costs.

The parent company of the Orange County Register has begun an auction seeking to sell all or part of the Irvine-based owner of 100 newspapers and eight TV stations. Freedom Communications Inc., which emerged from Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection last year, was expected to receive bids from a number of suitors before a Thursday deadline set by the company. A spokesman for Freedom declined to provide any information on bids received. Among firms considered likely to make bids for parts of Freedom were Tribune Co. ?

Los Angeles Times Media Group hired media industry veteran Steven Gellman to be publisher of LA, Los Angeles Times Magazine. Gellman will oversee the publication's advertising, marketing and events and will work with its editor in chief, Annie Gilbar. He most recently was director of targeted products at the Southern California unit of Denver-based newspaper publisher MediaNews Group Inc. He also has held executive positions at the Hollywood Reporter, Los Angeles magazine and other publications in his 20-year-plus career.

The Press-Telegram and Daily Breeze, two newspapers owned by MediaNews Group Inc., will cut staff and merge their Internet, copy editing and pagination operations in response to sagging ad revenue, an editor said Monday. The move involves the loss of nine jobs at the Daily Breeze, located in Torrance, and about 10 jobs at the Press-Telegram in Long Beach, Daily Breeze Editor Phillip Sanfield said.

Michael Tully has been named president and publisher of the San Jose Mercury News, becoming the third person to hold the job since the daily was sold to MediaNews Group Inc. 18 months ago. Tully replaced Jeff Kiel as publisher. He comes to Silicon Valley's biggest paper from the Kansas City Star. Tully also will oversee several other San Francisco Bay-area papers owned by MediaNews. The list of those reporting to Tully include the Contra Costa Times in Walnut Creek, the Oakland Tribune, the Santa Cruz Sentinel and the Marin Independent Journal.

George Riggs, chief executive of MediaNews Group Inc.'s California Newspaper Partnership, said he would resign at the end of January. Riggs, boss for 18 months, has been overseeing 33 daily and 57 weekly newspapers.

Gannett Co., the nation's largest newspaper company, is buying the Detroit Free Press from Knight Ridder Inc. and MediaNews Group Inc. will take ownership of the Detroit News from Gannett, the companies announced Wednesday. Gannett and Knight Ridder also announced an exchange of newspapers in Florida, Washington and Idaho. Terms of the transactions were not disclosed. Gannett is buying the Tallahassee Democrat in Florida from Knight Ridder.

Publishers Hearst Corp. and MediaNews Group Inc. have settled a lawsuit by a real estate developer who claimed that a deal the companies struck would hurt newspaper competition in the San Francisco Bay Area. The settlement brings MediaNews a step closer to getting two Hearst newspapers -- the Monterey Herald in California and the Pioneer Press in St. Paul, Minn. -- in exchange for handing over a stake in its operations outside the Bay Area to Hearst.

Tribune Co. and MediaNews Group Inc. are in talks with other newspaper publishers to form a network to jointly sell national advertising, MediaNews President Joseph Lodovic said. The goal is to let advertisers buy space in newspapers and on their websites nationally rather than negotiate separate deals with individual publishers, Lodovic said. It wouldn't replace Yahoo Inc.'s year-old newspaper consortium. A spokesman for Tribune Co.