MediaNews Group said it will expand its joint marketing partnership with Advo Inc. to deliver ad inserts to subscribers served by its Southern California newspapers.

The program will be rolled out this August and allow advertisers to place promotional inserts in both newspapers and direct mail reaching some 2 million Los Angeles-area households, Advo said.

MediaNews’ Los Angeles Newspaper Group will combine its ad inserts with Advo’s midweek offering, producing a single package called Advo ShopWise.

LANG’s properties include the Los Angeles Daily News, Long Beach Press Telegram, San Gabriel Valley Tribune and Pasadena Star-News.

Newspaper subscribers will receive the inserts on top of their Wednesday newspaper, while those who do not receive a LANG newspaper will receive the inserts in their mailboxes.

The companies’ Southern California project is the third venture struck between the two firms. Last year, MediaNews’ Connecticut Post in Bridgeport launched a similar program. The first MediaNews partnership with Advo occurred in 2000, when the Denver Newspaper Agency, publisher of the Denver Post and JOA partner Rocky Mountain News, targeted Denver households. According to Advo, the Denver newspapers saw their weekly inserts grow six-fold, from 10 to 60, because of the program’s ability to reach more homes.

“We have already teamed up with Advo in two other major markets, and our advertisers and newspapers couldn’t be happier with the results,” said William Dean Singleton, Media News’ vice chairman and chief executive officer.

Advo said the agreement with MediaNews brings to 7.5 million the number of households it reaches through partnerships with newspaper publishers. In addition to MediaNews, Advo is also working with Gannett Co. Inc., Knight Ridder Inc., the New York Times Co., Tribune Co. and E.W. Scripps.