"The 'Maariv' daily will continue as a newspaper sold to subscribers and at sales points on Sunday through Thursday," a senior source at the newspaper told "Globes" today. He continued, "There are no plans to distribute the newspaper free of charge." At the same time, the source added that merging the "Post" brand into "Maariv", also part of the Jerusalem Post group, was under consideration, with a smaller edition of the "Maariv" brand being distributed for free on Sunday through Thursday - unlike "Israel Hayom," which is distributed completely for free with all of its supplements. Distribution of the weekend "Maariv," distributed on Fridays and before holidays, will continue to be only for payment.
Following the crisis at Alon Holdings Blue Square - Israel Ltd. (NYSE: BSI; TASE: BSI), a partner in the "Post" newspaper, Jerusalem Post group publisher Eli Azur is looking for another partner for continuing some version of the newspaper, which is distributed free of charge. At the same time, Azur asked the Ministry of the Interior to examine the possibility of a merger between "Post" and "Maariv." Last year, "Post" became the third most widely circulated newspaper in Israel by overtaking "Haaretz" according to a TGI survey. As a result, planning and building advertising budgets were transferred from "Haaretz"-"TheMarker" to "Post." The fact that "Maariv's" circulation rose for the first time in a long time, according to the TGI survey, could result in a merger between the "Maariv" and "Post" being greater than the sum of its parts.
The Jerusalem Post group said, "In principle, the Jerusalem Post group favors a consolidation of its brand names. The possibility is being examined, but no decision has been made yet, and in any case, the "Maariv-Hashavua" newspaper will not become a free newspaper." Azur relaunched "Maariv" as "Maariv Hashavua" in 2014.
Published by Globes [online], Israel business news - www.globes-online.com - on October 28, 2015
© Copyright of Globes Publisher Itonut (1983) Ltd. 2015