Scripps puts Albuquerque paper on the auction block

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Albuquerque, NM is among the shrinking number of cities that still has two daily newspapers – but perhaps not for long. E.W. Scripps Company says it is seeking a buyer for the Albuquerque Tribune, and if no buyer is found, it will shut down the paper. The investment bankers at Broadwater & Associates have been retained to shop the afternoon daily, which publishes Monday through Saturday. "The Albuquerque Tribune, with its outstanding reputation for journalistic excellence, has been enlightening readers in New Mexico for more than 80 years. Unfortunately, readers in Albuquerque, as in nearly all cities across America, are choosing other media alternatives to afternoon newspapers," said Rich Boehne, Executive VP and COO for Scripps, who flew to New Mexico to met with Tribune staff members.


As it stands, the Tribune is in the nation’s longest-running joint operating agreement, dating back to 1933, with the morning Albuquerque Journal, but that JOA will be terminated with the sale. The Tribune has a daily paid circulation of about 11,000 copies compared with The Journal’s paid circulation of 106,000 daily and 145,000 Sunday. Paid circulation of the afternoon Tribune, which stood at 42,000 in 1988, has been in persistent decline for more than two decades, Scripps said.