Bottom Line: The days of competition between newspapers has diminished significantly over the years, particularly with the rise of one-newspaper cities. Now, in an effort to cut costs, two major papers will follow th lead of other newspapers and deliver each other's products to customers. 02-26-2008 Miami Herald, Sun-Sentinel to share delivery costs Miami Herald.com, 2/26 In a move designed to cut costs and improve distribution, The Miami Herald and the Sun-Sentinel announced Monday they will begin delivering each other's products next month. Under the agreement, The Miami Herald will deliver in Miami-Dade the Sun-Sentinel and its contracted publications, including The New York Times, The Wall Street Journal, New York Daily News, New York Post, Financial Times, Daily Business Review, Investors Business Daily and Barron's. Monroe County will eventually be added. The Sun-Sentinel will deliver The Miami Herald, El Nuevo Herald and USA Today north of Interstate 595 in Broward and Palm Beach counties. Miami Herald President and Publisher David Landsberg (no relation) said the deal covers about 6 percent or 7 percent of The Miami Herald's daily circulation, but will save the company a significant amount of money. ''I want to emphasize that we are both still competitive newspapers in every sense of the word,'' he said. ``We are still competing for content, readers and newspaper sales.'' Such agreements are likely to become more common as rising printing costs and falling circulation force companies to cut costs, said John Murray, vice president of circulation marketing at the Newspaper Association of America. ''Historically, newspaper have been very protective of their subscriber list, but now the battle is elsewhere,'' he said. ``It's more efficient have one carrier go down the street.'' Today about 40 percent of U.S. newspapers deliver other titles, he said. Sharing resources to cut costs isn't new. Since the 1970s newspapers have had joint operating agreements, or JOAs, where they have kept separate newsrooms but shared printing presses and distribution. The Chicago Tribune recently began distributing its competitor The Chicago Sun-Times; and The Miami Herald prints and distributes the South Florida Times.
