2005 Annual Report - Alternative Media Outlook

Ownership among the biggest players remained stable in 2004, with no major openings or closings. New Times, the largest owner, held on to its eleven weeklies, while Village Voice media kept its six.¹⁶

There was activity in specific markets around the country, often involving battles between large companies and independent owners.

In San Francisco in October, the family-owned Bay Guardian filed suit against two New Times weeklies in the area, charging that New Times and the weeklies had sold ads below cost to put the Guardian out of business. The Guardian said New Times was "breaking the law and using its considerable national resources in an effort to destroy a locally owned competitor so it will have the San Francisco alternative market to itself."¹⁷

In Boston there was a new owner when Metrocorp, the publisher of Boston Magazine and Philadelphia Magazine, purchased a majority ownership of Boston's Weekly Dig. The Dig, with a light approach to the news and a lad-magazine sensibility (think Maxim) is the self-proclaimed fastest-growing alternative weekly in the area with an unaudited circulation of 50,000.¹⁸ That number still places it far behind the long-time leader, the Boston Phoenix, which has an unaudited readership of 109,000.¹⁹ But the influx of dollars and resources Metrocorp could put into the Dig may make it more of a competitor.

The changes in San Francisco and Boston show how quickly the world of alternative weeklies is evolving. The increasing revenue numbers and desirable demographics these publications offer has not gone unnoticed. And as independents are being challenged by the "big" companies, the "big" companies are facing competition from even bigger challengers.