2006 was a bumpy year for newspaper publishers, witness the financial travails faced by Knight Ridder Inc. and Tribune Co. But publishers and vendors remained busy rolling out new products and making multimillion-dollar deals, as Newspapers & Technology’s annual review of the past year reveals. The month refers to when our article appeared and not when the actual event occurred.

January

The Opelika-Auburn (Ala.) News purchases a Dauphin Graphic Machines Inc. Advantage press to anchor a new 40,000 square-foot production facility.

The Dallas Morning News picks Prim Hall, Enternet LLC, Sitma and Rima System to provide packaging systems for a new $50 million postpress and distribution plant in South Dallas.

The Los Angeles Times shutters its San Fernando Valley production plant in Chatsworth, Calif., and shifts production to three other sites.

The Journal and Courier in Lafayette, Ind., becomes first paper to buy a PowerWrap inserter from GMA Inc. (now Muller Martini Mailroom Systems).

The South Bend (Ind.) Tribune and The Post Register in Idaho Falls, Idaho, both pick Goss International Corp. to supply them with postpress equipment.

Manugraph selects Quad Tech to supply it with 27 registration systems to be installed on Manugraph presses at Indian newspaper press sites.

The Telegram & Gazette in Worcester, Mass., commissions a press from Tensor Group Inc. to print the national edition of the (New York) Daily News as well as other commercial accounts.

The Telegraph Group in the United Kingdom goes live with editorial software from Digital Technology International. The publisher added 600 seats of the vendor’s editorial software in conjunction with its previously installed 150-seat advertising deployment

The Kansas City (Mo.) Star said it would install NewsWay workflow software from ProImage.

February

Two newspaper facility designers join forces to form a new company, Denver-based ArcWest Architects Inc., led by Kevin H. Anderson and Todd Heirls. Meantime, The Austin Co. is purchased by Japanese engineering firm Kajima.

Harland Simon concludes upgrading a Honeywell control system on a Goss International Corp. Colorliner press used by Turkish publisher Merkez.

The Audit Bureau of Circulations launches its Insert Verification Service, designed to verify that an advertiser’s FSI is hitting its desired target.

MacDermid Printing Solutions plans to test its latest generation of flexo plates at several undisclosed U.S. newspaper sites as well as assess performance of its new computer-to-plate technology.

TKS (USA) formally signs a contract with The Frederick (Md.) News-Post to deliver a press to anchor the newspaper’s new production plant. The vendor will install a Color Top 4000UDH 3-by-2 press in March, configured as two lines, sporting six four-over-four towers with two 2:3:3 jaw folders.

Rossel Printing Co. rolls out ABB’s MPS Cockpit planning app at its new printing facility near Nivelles near Brussels, Belgium.

The Tampa (Fla.) Tribune is phasing in NewsXtreme workflow software from Presteligence Inc., starting with classifieds.

Southern Lithoplate Inc. announces a cooperative technology partnership with lithoplate manufacturer Ipagsa Industrial of Barcelona, Spain, which will combine the companies’ existing technologies.

Electronic payment provider Click&Buy and Serence Inc. team up to provide free e-payment services for content feeds.

March

The Times in Trenton, N.J., shuts down its production site as it transfers production to sister paper The Star-Ledger in Newark, N.J. The action follows North Jersey Media Group’s decision to close its Hackensack, N.J., site in favor of another plant in Rockaway, N.J., and the shuttering of a plant used to print The Daily News Journal in Murfreesboro, Tenn. That paper’s production will be handled by The (Nashville) Tennessean.

Web Press Corp. bolsters its Quad-Stack color printing units with a PLC-based automation controls system. Utah printer Liberty Press is the first WPC customer to install the new package.

The Denver Newspaper Agency picks Goss International Corp. and Schur Packaging Systems Inc. to supply it with postproduction equipment to anchor its plant upgrade.

FMC Technologies Inc. is picked by Post-Newsweek Media Inc.’s commercial printing division to supply the publisher with roll-handling technology.

Global Web Systems introduces the G-145 TB single-wide press, featuring bearer-to-bearer design and a complete third form roller assembly. It can print up to 40,000 copies per hour.

The Herald in Everett, Wash., taps Printing Press Services International to add a Model 80 tower and 50-inch reelstand to its existing Goss International Corp. Metrocolor pressline.

Agfa institutes a “substantial” price increase on prepress consumables, namely printing plates and film, citing soaring silver and aluminum prices and rising energy and transportation costs.

Cox Newspapers Inc. unit Cox Ohio Publishing rolls out violet computer-to-plate technology from Agfa for the Dayton Daily News, the Springfield News-Sun, the (Hamilton) Journal-News and the Middletown Journal.

Glunz & Jensen purchases K&F International Inc.

Tensor Group Inc. sells two presses, one a combo heatset/coldset machine, to newspaper publishers in Belgium and Bahrain. The vendor also unveils a new press, the T-500.

Newsday of Long Island, N.Y., deploys Discus circulation software from Neasi-Weber International to improve customer service and circulation management and bring billing in house.

Stephens Media Group is installing 25 FasTrak violet computer-to-plate imaging systems and related software from alfaQuest Technologies Inc. to support its newspaper and commercial printing activities.

MediaNews Group Interactive selects Denver-based Indigio Group Inc. to develop an advanced web analytics program, designed to provide the publisher with in-depth tracking and user behavior analysis for all its online operations.

Printers House Americas debuts a new single-wide press, the Orient X-Cel, a 36,000-copy-per-hour machine.

April

Quebecor Inc. picks Ferag to install postpress equipment in the two newspaper and commercial plants it is building in Toronto and Montreal.

The News & Advance in Lynchburg, Va., says it will install a Koenig & Bauer AG Comet press to anchor a press hall expansion.

The Rockford Register Star becomes the first Gannett newspaper to be printed on lighter basis-weight newsprint as it goes on-edition with a Koenig & Bauer AG Colora press.

YourHub.com picks up more than a dozen new newspaper clients, ranging from The Knoxville (Tenn.) News-Sentinel to those operated by the Los Angeles Newspaper Group.

The owner of MAN Roland Inc. says it will sell a majority of the press vendor to a subsidiary of a German insurance company. Under terms of the deal, MAN AG will form a joint venture with Allianz Capital Partners, a unit of Allianz Group, to operate MAN Roland Druckmaschinen AG.

Acutech LLC makes its first punch bender sale, to the St. Louis Post-Dispatch.

Vanguardia Liberal is one of seven Colombian dailies to complete installations of violet computer-to-plate units from ECRM Imaging Systems.

May

The Newspaper Association of America says that Nexpo ’06 attendance surpasses the 6,000 mark.

Koenig & Bauer AG sells Comet presses to The Janesville (Wis.) Gazette and the Trinidad Guardian.

Goss International Corp. sells presses to Indian newspaper publisher Deccan Chronicle Holdings Ltd., and The Barbados Advocate as well as postproduction systems to The Orange County (Calif.) Register, The Inland Valley News Bulletin in Ontario, Calif., and The News Journal in Wilmington, Del.

MAN Roland says it will install a GeoMAN press at the Macomb Daily in Mt. Clemens, Mich.

The Dallas Morning News breaks ground on a $50 million packaging and production plant in south Dallas.

The Free Lance-Star in Fredericksburg, Va., says it will construct a new production plant to improve printing and distribution of the paper.

Southern Lithoplate, Nela, ProImage America and Screen USA team up to market and sell each other’s products.

The Chronicle-Telegram in Elyria, Ohio, taps Quipp Systems Inc. to supply it with postpress equipment for its new plant expansion project.

The News-Gazette in Champaign, Ill. picks Schur Packaging Systems to equip the majority of the forthcoming plant, tapping the vendor for everything but tie-lines and strappers.

Koenig & Bauer AG says Trinity Mirror Printing in Glasgow, Scotland, will install two Commander presslines to print the Scottish Daily Record, Scottish Sunday Mail, Metro and a range of other regional titles.

Trinity Mirror purchases five ColorMAN presses from MAN Roland for its Watford, England, plant that produces the Daily Mirror, Sunday Mirror and other publications.

Goss International Corp. files suit against K&M Newspaper Services Inc. for violating a patent it contends covers shaftless servo-drive technology used in Goss’ Magnapak inserters.

Pluck Corp. signs up the Washington Post, San Francisco Chronicle, the Houston Chronicle, the San Antonio Express-News and newspapers owned by Gannett Co. Inc. and Cox to carry its blog-based news and information service.

Cox Newspapers Inc. says it will deploy Digital Technology International’s newly introduced WebSpeed content management app at all of its 17 daily newspapers.

The New York Times Co. picks SAP software and MAN Roland’s printnet to manage advertising production at its New York Times Media Group and New England Media Group properties.

June

Circulation at American newspapers slips another notch over the past six months, according to an analysis of Audit Bureau of Circulations figures conducted by the Newspaper Association of America.

Gannett Supply Corp. deploys Ediwise’s AbiNet paper roll management software at all of its newspaper sites including USA Today.

The Kansas City Star begins producing complete papers at its $199 million downtown plant, capping off a four-year project.

The Dayton (Ohio) Daily News and The (Phoenix) Arizona Republic taps Nela to equip their production operations with punch and plate benders.

The Orlando (Fla.) Sentinel orders four Packman packaging systems from Quipp Systems Inc.

Newspaper Agency Corp. goes on-edition with three 4-by-1 TKS (USA) Color Top 5000 presses as its $88 million printing plant in suburban Salt Lake City goes into production.

The St. Petersburg (Fla.) Times selects Goss International Corp. to supply digital inkers for its existing Metro and Metroliner presses.

The Times-Mail in Bedford and The Herald-Times in Bloomington, Indiana dailies owned by Schurz Communications Inc., installs workflow software from Polkadots Software to manage their production.

Colorado newspapers Daily Times-Call in Longmont and the Reporter-Herald in Loveland roll out ProImage’s browser-based NewsWay app.

Agfa signs a contract with Spain’s El Pais for three high-speed, violet Polaris computer-to-plate units and N91v digital plates.

NewspaperDirect teams up with Microsoft to bring content to Ultra Mobile PCs.

The Facility Group opens up offices in Denver and Chicago to coordinate newspaper architectural and consulting projects as the firm launches a newspaper/print media business group.

July

Florida newspapers launch a Web site that enables them to share production resources in the event of hurricanes or other natural disasters.

The 6-year-old antidumping legal battle between Goss International Corp. and Tokyo Kikai Seisakusho ends when the U.S. Supreme Court dismisses without comment a TKS appeal asking the high court to review a lower court ruling that affirmed the Japanese vendor sold presses in the United States at below-market values.

The (Cleveland) Plain Dealer upgrades its roll handling buy purchasing nine automated guided vehicles from FMC Technologies Inc.

Digital Technology International is purchased by private equity firm Riverside Co. Financial details were not disclosed. DTI’s existing top management will remain in place.

September

The New York Times picks Goss International Corp. to install a Colorliner press to augment its College Point, N.Y., facility. The agreement also calls for Goss to shrink The Times’ presses to 48 inches wide as the paper launches a $150 million project that includes the closure of its Edison, N.J., plant.

North Jersey Media Group goes on edition with its WIFAG evolution 371 press as the publisher migrates to a digital workflow and computer-integrated-manufacturing.

Central New York Newspaper Group opens its $50 million Johnson City, N.Y., plant anchored by two Colora presses from Koenig & Bauer AG.

The Journal and Courier in Lafayette, Ind., converts to Berliner as it opens its new MAN Roland Inc.-based production facility, becoming the first U.S. daily to embrace the format.

Total Mailroom Support Inc. is purchased by Coastal Automation LLC, which turns over marketing of the firm’s postpress products to Cannon Equipment.

TKS pays Goss International Corp. more than $38 million to satisfy a judgment levied against it by a U.S. District Court in 2003.

October

The Toronto Star launches an electronic afternoon edition of the paper, called Star P.M. The Star becomes the first North American daily to use the Web to provide readers with a discrete afternoon product containing up-to-date news and information.

The Orange County (Calif.) Register rolls out the OC Post, a full-color tabloid daily, in an effort to attract new readers.

Enovation Graphic Systems Inc. renames itself Fujifilm Graphic Systems USA. Parent firm Fuji sets an agreement with based Krause to resell the firm’s CTP products in the United States and Canada.

Agfa says it will lay off up to 2,000 employees as the vendor restructures into three separate units.

November

Goss International Corp. sells its first Flexible Press System presses, to newspaper publishers in the United Kingdom and mainland Europe. The buyers are Irish publisher Independent News & Media PLC and Netherlands-based printer F.D. Hoekstra Boom. Each buys a double-wide FPS. The press was introduced in 2004.

Metro International says it will deploy Quark Inc.’s QuarkXPress pagination software across all of its 69 editions worldwide.

Baldwin Technology Co. Inc. agrees to buy acquire rival Oxy-Dry Corp. No financial or operational details were released about the transaction.

Morris Publishing purchases a single-wide Uniset 75 press from MAN Roland Inc. to produce its Bluffton (S.C.) Today and selected commercial products. The machine will go on-edition in late 2007.

Newspapers accelerate their plans to cut web widths from 50 inches to 48 inches as they seek ways to cut production costs.

The Tulsa (Okla.) World and the Columbus (Ohio) Dispatch, hop on the 48-inch web-width conversion bandwagon, adding their banners to the dozens of other papers that have already switched, or will migrate, to the narrower format in the next year.

The Sacramento (Calif.) Bee wraps up a color upgrade built around Model 80 towers from Printing Press Services International.

Samuel Manu-Tech Inc., the parent company of Samuel Strapping Systems, signs a letter of intent to purchase certain assets of Gerrard-Ovalstrapping, Ovalstrapping Inc. and Plastex Extruders.

Austrian newspaper printer Media Druck GmbH buys three Kodak Trendsetter News 200 thermal platesetters, marking Kodak’s 1,000th thermal CTP unit sold worldwide, the vendor says.

Sun Media Corp. of Canada buys Jazbox content management software from MediaSpan Media Software for its chain of tabloid and community newspapers.

The Wall Street Journal plans to boost its color advertising capacity by 17 percent, or four pages each issue, in a $30 million project to be completed by 2009. The paper is adding a combination of Goss Headline Offset 4-color towers and half-decks — all previously used equipment — to its presslines. It’s the first Wall Street Journal color expansion for advertisers since 2002.

KBA North America Inc. says it will close its York, Pa., web press sales, service and parts office and transfer operations to Williston, Vt., which currently houses the vendor’s sheetfed division.

December

Manugraph says it will acquire Dauphin Graphic Machines Inc. for $19.2 million in cash. The combined company, known as Manugraph DGM Inc., will remain in Millersburg, Pa., and continue to sell and support all of the firm’s existing press systems.

Canadian newspaper and publications printer Transcontinental Inc. will begin printing the San Francisco Chronicle in a new Bay Area plant to be in operation in spring 2009. The 15-year contract between the printer and Hearst Corp., worth more than $1 billion, calls for Transcontinental to handle both printing and postpress production of the paper.

The Naples (Fla.) Daily News receives approval from local lawmakers to build a new production plant that will house a new press. The newspaper will construct the new building on a 36-acre site in north Naples, shuttering its existing downtown plant.

The Columbus (Ohio) Dispatch and Contra Costa (Calif.) Times say they will outsource advertising production jobs to India in a bid to control costs, cutting more than 130 jobs in the process.

Yahoo Inc. and eight newspaper publishers align forces to grow papers’ online classified ad revenues and boost the amount of local information on yahoo.com. The publishers, representing nearly 200 papers, are MediaNews Group Inc., Hearst Corp., Belo Corp., Cox Newspapers Inc., Journal Register Co., Lee Enterprises Inc., the E.W. Scripps Co. and Media General.

Google launches a three-month test encompassing 100 advertisers and more than 50 daily newspapers to allow businesses to buy ads in papers including The New York Times, The Seattle Times and The Washington Post.

Tribune Co. completes a “very successful” test of Chinese newsprint at the Orlando (Fla.) Sentinel and plans to conduct a similar test at the Los Angeles Times.

Reuters says it is offering Pluck Corp.’s BlogBurst blog syndication service to thousands of its media partners worldwide.

Gannett Co. Inc. launches the Information Center, a strategy to gather and distribute news and information across all media platforms 24 hours a day and seven days a week. The initiative will be in place across all of the publisher’s 90-plus papers in mid-2007.

The Repository in Canton, Ohio, and the Washington Times begin offering audio versions of their daily editions with Presteligence’s Audio NewsStand app.

The Advocate in Baton Rouge, La., opens its new 120,000-square-foot production plant, capping off a 2-year project.