CHICAGO WILL BE SEEING RED
Chicago Tribune to launch new weekday tabloid edition for young, urban commuters.
CHICAGO, October 7, 2002 – You’ve got 20 minutes of down time a day–riding the train to work, idling away the moments between classes, standing in line for coffee. Option A: Stare mindlessly into space. Option B: Get informed, be entertained, move on.
Choose Option B and we’ve got what you need: RedEye.
RedEye is a new weekday edition of the Chicago Tribune, offering a unique approach to news and entertainment that will debut within the next month. It’s one of several ways the Tribune is expanding media choices for consumers, and in particular taking aim at younger readers and the advertisers who covet them.
“For a daily read to capture the attention of more young adults, it has to understand their interests and feel like something written specifically for them,” said John O’Loughlin, RedEye’s new general manager. With its tightly-edited mix of topical news and features coupled with its daily frequency, the RedEye edition stands out from other publications targeting young adults.
“If readers give us 20 minutes, we’ll make the most of their time,” said Jane Hirt, RedEye co-editor. “We’ll plug them in each day on everything from the top news stories to the hottest celebrity gossip, and not always in that order.”
A key feature of RedEye will be content from metromix.com, the Tribune’s award-winning online entertainment guide. Coupled with Metromix, RedEye will provide advertisers with yet another unique opportunity to reach consumers in the key 18-34-year-old demographic.
“Throughout Tribune, we are committed to offering a robust array of media choices to satisfy diverse audiences and advertisers,” said Scott Smith, Chicago Tribune president and publisher. “The entire organization is behind creating a great new choice in the RedEye edition to reach more young adults, more frequently.” Currently about one-half of all adults aged 18-34 read print editions of Chicago Tribune at least once a week.*
The tabloid-size RedEye edition will carry a cover price of 25 cents, and be distributed Monday-Friday at outlets and venues including retail stores, newspaper boxes and also locations near where younger urban consumers live and play–health clubs, bars, restaurants, coffee houses, campuses, book stores, to name a few.
In addition to O’Loughlin and Hirt, RedEye’s management team includes co-editor Joe Knowles, circulation manager Howard Filip, marketing manager Tim Dillon, business manager Brad Moore and advertising sales manager Tom Schager.
Coming this fall…Chicago will be seeing red.
*Source: 2001 Gallup Poll of Media Usage-Chicago Market
