The Palm Beach (Fla.) Post, Palm Beach News and La Palma will be printed on the presses of the South Florida Sun-Sentinel in Fort Lauderdale under an agreement between Cox-owned Palm Beach Newspapers Inc. and Tribune Co.

The move will be completed by Jan. 31, Post Publisher Doug Franklin said.

The Sun-Sentinel will be responsible for printing, packaging and delivering the papers.

Franklin said the decision was driven by cost considerations. "Our current equipment, facilities and capabilities have become increasingly inefficient, so outsourcing printing and packaging is necessary," he said in a memo.

Some 300 jobs will be eliminated as a result of the plant shutdown.

Meantime, Lee Enterprises moved production and postproduction of The Courier in Waterloo, Iowa, to Color Web Printers in Cedar Rapids, Iowa.

Color Web Printers is a unit of The Gazette in Cedar Rapids. The company owns the daily newspaper as well as other business interests.

Color Web also prints comics, The Daily Iowan and selected sections of the St. Louis Post-Dispatch.

The switch in print sites eliminated more than 50 pressroom and packaging jobs at The Courier.

IfraExpo kicks off

AMSTERDAM, the Netherlands — IfraExpo kicked off today with a number of sales and new product announcements.

•Moscow Newspaper Printing Plant invested in hybrid press technology from Goss International Corp. in the form of a combined Uniliner and Universal press for the production of a wide range of products.

The new press system, which includes two doublewide towers, one singlewide tower, two folders and a Goss Ecocool dryer, will be capable of operating as a combined press using either of the two folders, or as two separate presses, and will allow MNPP to print in 100 percent color for the first time.

•Saarbrucker Zeitung of Germany upgraded its ppi Media workflow software and ppi also announced sales of upgraded apps to CanWest Newspapers.

•Russian Media group Media 3 and Segodnya, a newspaper in the Ukraine, both selected Prestige content management software from Atex through Atex’s partner in the region, Terem-Media. Atex also announced upgrades to its products to include Adobe AIR functionality.

Meantime, several vendors are showing apps to manage output of content to multiple platforms.

Among them:

•Tera Digital Publishing (stand 9440) is conducting demos to showcase its ability to support a single newsroom via its GN3 newspaper editorial management software. Video and stills captured on the presenter’s mobile phone are input live to GN3 via Tera’s GNPortal content ingestion app, along with text, deadlines, bylines and metadata for each article.

•WoodWing Software (stand 10210) is showing version 6 of its Enterprise publishing software, including its new Content Station client application built on Adobe’s AIR technology, which is devoted to managing content from conception through distribution in both print and online channels, WoodWing said.

•EidosMedia (stand 9230) is giving hands-on demos of its latest release of Méthode, featuring new functionalities for Web publishing and a new user interface that incorporates ergonomic features designed to maximize productivity. EidosMedia also announced that Le Parisien-Aujourd’hui of France chose Méthode for its multi-edition print operations.

Look for a recap of all the news from IfraExpo in the December issue.

ABC reports newspaper circulation drop

The average paid circulation for U.S. newspapers continued its steady decline according to statistics released by the Audit Bureau of Circulations today.

ABC’s Fas-Fax, covering the six-month period ended Sept. 30, found circ falling by more than 4.6 percent daily and 4.9 percent Sunday, according to Reuters.

Among the top 25 daily newspapers only USA Today and The Wall Street Journal’s saw incremental increases of 0.008 percent and 0.006 percent, respectively.

The New York Times reported losing 3.58 percent of its daily readers to 1,000,665 and the Los Angeles Times dropped 5.2 percent to 739,147.

Five of the top 25 newspapers reported double-digit losses: The Atlanta Journal-Constitution shed 13.62 percent; the Houston Chronicle lost 11.66 percent; the Boston Globe lost 10.18 percent; the Star-Ledger, in Newark, N.J. shed 10.4 percent; and the Philadelphia Inquirer lost 11.06 percent.

Meantime, the third installment of Audience Fax, released today, included year-over-year comparisons from the first release in 2007. Audience Fax is the joint initiative of ABC, Scarborough Research and the Newspaper Association of America, which measures audience reach from print and online figures.

The Top 25 participating U.S. newspapers reported varying figures, with the Houston Chronicle gaining 4.33 percent in combined print and online figures, and the Dallas Morning News reporting a 21.91 percent downturn from the September 2007 Audience Fax release.

Connecticut dailies the Greenwich Times and The Stamford Advocate had the highest combined print and online gains, reporting increases of 22.13 percent and 20.01 percent, respectively.

Look for more information on both reports in the December issue.

Trib to buy Orange County Register?

The Financial Times reported last week that Tribune Co. is mulling the purchase The Orange County (Calif.) Register and the possibility of merging production and distribution operations with the Los Angeles Times.

Neither company would comment about the story, which was attributed to unidentified sources.

Tribune is also reportedly eyeing the purchase of The San Diego Union-Tribune as well in a bid to further cement its operations in Southern California.

Prime UV sets sales

Prime UV said it equipped 11 semi-commercial newspaper presses with its UV curing system technology in the quarter ending Sept. 30, bringing to more than 100 the number of presses worldwide outfitted with its technology.

Among recent installations is a second UV system on a Manugraph DGM Inc. press operated by Diarios do Para in Belem, Brazil. Prime also installed its system on a Manugraph Cityline press at a printing site in Russia.

Okaz Commercial Printing in Jeddah, Saudi Arabia; Grupo Editorial in Novo Hamburgo, Brazil; and Grafinorte in Apucarana in Parana, Brazil; also installed Prime UV curing systems on their presses, the company said.

The UV curing system is on display at IfraExpo in hall 8, booth 40.

Gannett taps QIPC for U.K. install

Newsquest is installing 30 color register and cutoff management systems from Q.I. Press Controls to oversee its press output.

The Gannett Co. Inc. unit is installing 30 mRC systems across a manroland uniset 70 press configured with seven towers, two folders and a dryer.

Jonathan Massey, general manager of Newsquest’s print facility, said QIPC best met the publisher’s requirement for technology that would reduce waste and improve quality.

NAA: Web audience up 16% in Q3

The Newspaper Association of America said newspaper Web sites attracted more than 68 million visitors in the third quarter, a 15.8 percent jump over year-ago totals.

The data, provided to the organization by Nielsen Online, also showed that newspaper Web site visitors generated an average of just over 3.5 billion page views per month throughout the quarter, a 25 percent boost. NAA said these figures are the highest for any quarter since it began tracking the data in 2004.

"Newspapers are continuing to enhance their Web sites with dynamic features, video and other interactive tools that deliver high levels of user engagement," said Randy Bennett, NAA’s senior vice president of audience and new business development.  "The dramatic increase in page views suggests users are visiting newspaper Web sites frequently throughout the day."

AP launches MNN app for BlackBerry

The Associated Press last week launched a Mobile News Network client app designed for BlackBerry smart phones.

AP said the app supports all of the smart phone’s models, including the BlackBerry Bold.

The cooperative teamed up with FreeRange Communications to develop the BlackBerry software.

Meantime, AP said it would offer online election night results through its first-ever continuous live video stream.

"Big Issue: Election Results" will begin streaming at 7 p.m. ET via AP’s Online Video Network.

News-Post celebrates 125 years of publication

The Frederick News-Post on Oct. 15 celebrated 125 years as the oldest, continuously published family-owned independent newspaper in Maryland.

"We’re proud of our long commitment and tradition of upholding the First Amendment freedom of the press as one of the few independent, family-owned newspapers left in the country," said Myron W. Randall, The News-Post’s editor and publisher.

The Frederick News-Post hasn’t missed a regularly scheduled day of publication since it was founded in 1883 as The Daily News.

The paper earlier this year moved into a new production facility anchored by a new singlewide TKS press capable of printing 70,000 copies per hour.

NY Times launches new video features

NYTimes.com launched a new video platform from Brightcove Inc., which introduces video into more sections of the site and provides enhanced user features.

High-definition players are available on NYT’s home page, article pages, in blogs and in the video library.

"Demand for high-quality video is on the rise across the Web from both our users and our advertisers," said Nicholas Ascheim, vice president of product management for NYTimes.com. "To meet this need, we have upgraded our technology, increased our production values and given video even more prominence across the site."

The platform also introduces a widescreen format, redesigned video library and individual video pages. Users can select most-viewed videos and share videos on social sites like Digg, Facebook, Mixx and Yahoo Buzz.

The site produces more than 100 original videos per month, from breaking news and analysis to enterprise and investigative reporting by Times’ journalists around the world

Report: Goss trade dispute near end

The ongoing trade dispute between Goss International Corp. and TKS could be nearing a diplomatic end in favor of Goss, according to a story posted by Foster’s Daily Democrat in Dover, N.H.

The paper said U.S. State Dept. officials have discussed the case with the Japanese government in an attempt to persuade Japanese officials to find a way to resolve the argument.

U.S. Sen. John Sununu and other U.S. legislators earlier this summer said they would explore forging a diplomatic resolution to solve the long-running legal battle between the two press vendors (see Newspapers & Technology, September 2008).

Goss won more than $30 million from TKS after the Japanese vendor was found guilty of violating the now-repealed Anti-Dumping Act of 1916. But the Japanese government instituted a "clawback" procedure designed to force Goss’ Japanese subsidiary to pay back the judgment.

In Brief

The Wall Street Journal Digital Network named Peter Kafka senior editor of its All Things Digital Web site (www.allthingsd.com).

Muller Martini expanded the sales management territory of Frank J. Donnelly, Jr., to include Maine, Rhode Island, Vermont, New Hampshire and Massachusetts. He also oversees Delaware, New Jersey, Connecticut and parts of Pennsylvania and New York. 

Agfa announced enterprise monitoring and tracking software, based on its new Vantage and Analyst apps, which were commercially released today during Graph Expo.

www.agfa.com

The Seattle Times went live with NewsEngin’s TeamPlayer app, allowing the paper to collect, organize and present prep sports stats for online and print.

www.newsengin.com

Lee Enterprises selected Digital Media Communications Inc. to provide its self-serve Web video product and integrate it with the media group’s social Web sites.

www.digitalmediacommunications.com

The Telegraph Media Group launched a downloadable application designed with Google’s Android mobile operating system that allows users to access the U.K. publisher’s content through Android-enabled mobile phones.

This development coincides with T-Mobile’s launch of the Android-based G1 smart phone last week.

www.google.com

Inland Newspaper Machinery Corp. said it completed the sale of an eight-unit Goss International Corp. Urbanite press in Waldorf, Md., formerly owned by Post Newsweek Media Inc., as well as the sale of an Urbanite previously located in Greenfield, Mass., which was removed, shipped and installed at a newspaper in Tegucigalpa, Honduras.

www.inlandnews.com

Koti-Karjala of Finland selected Anygraaf’s Doris32 asset management and publishing production software. The publication will also be implementing Anygraaf’s advertising, circulation and distribution management software.

www.anygraaf.com

NewspaperDirect named Turkish newspaper publication import distributor Duenya Sueper Dagitim A.S. as its exclusive print and delivery partner in Turkey, with rights to market and sell NewspaperDirect's 800-plus publications.

www.newspaperdirect.com

Digital Technology International said it opened an office in Brazil to complement its existing Latin American operation based in Panama, and to provide additional support for customers in the region.

www.dtint.com

Quark Inc. announced extended publishing capabilities in QPS 8 to support both QuarkXPress and Adobe InDesign at the component level within a single workflow.

Meantime, Canto announced new versions of its Quark integration apps, including QXP Companion, QXP Server Companion and QPS Companion.

www.quark.com

www.canto.com

Vision Trade International SA was appointed as Shuttleworth Inc.’s representative serving Mexico and Latin America.

www.shuttleworth.com