In a move that must certainly leave ACBJ (www.networkcitybiz.com) looking over its shoulder, Dow Jones has announced that its Ottaway Newspapers Inc. has agreed to purchase the New England Business Bulletin, a monthly business newspaper serving Southeastern Massachusetts and Eastern Rhode Island, from the New England Publishing Group Inc.
Why would ACBJ care about Dow Jones single entry into local/regional B2B publishing? Because ACBJ is far-and-away the largest, and to-date nationally unchallenged, ad rep for, and publisher of 68 local and regional business publications across the US. Due the tremendous cost associated with forming such a massive and formidable group, ACBJ has never had any competition to its national network of local B2B publications and has generated over a billion dollars with its unchallenged grip on the marketplace. Dow Jones, should it choose to do so, could change all of that overnight.
(Dow Jones representatives declined to comment on the possibility of such a strategy.)
Sidebar: This might get personal. Ray Shaw, current chairman of ACBJ spent 29 years with Dow Jones & Co. before his retirement there in 1989 as president and chief operating officer. In a legendary career shift, He left Dow Jones on a Friday and made the deal to buy ACBJ the following Monday.
The announcement to purchase the New England Business Bulletin was made by John N. Wilcox, Ottaway president and chief operating officer.
"The New England Business Bulletin has a unique position serving the important business-to-business segment of the Southeastern New England economy. We look forward to having the Bulletin join our family of publications in this growing region."
Ottaway newspapers in Massachusetts include the Cape Cod Times of Hyannis, the Inquirer & Mirror of Nantucket, the Standard-Times of New Bedford and Hathaway Publishing, a group of five weeklies in South Coast Massachusetts. The New England Business Bulletin will operate out of the Hathaway offices at 780 County St., Somerset, Mass.
Timothy R. Branco, editor and publisher, who founded the publication in 1999, said, "The Business Bulletin has been a labor of love for myself and my company over the last six years. The Bulletin has continued to grow since our first issue.
"It became apparent that our next step required the expertise of an industry leader. Our decision to look to Ottaway Newspapers was based on our confidence that the company would not only maintain the integrity of the product but also have the insight to take the Bulletin to the next level. Ottaway was our first choice and we are proud to have the Bulletin become part of the Ottaway Family."
The Bulletin, a 32-page tabloid, has a monthly readership of 45,000 businesses throughout the region. The New England Publishing Group also publishes The Homefinder, a monthly real estate listing publication serving Rhode Island and Southeastern Massachusetts.
Ottaway Newspapers Inc. is the community newspaper subsidiary of Dow Jones & Company. Ottaway publishes 15 daily newspapers, 19 weeklies and numerous specialty publications and web sites in nine states. The parent company, Dow Jones& Company, publishes The Wall Street Journal and its international and online editions, Barron's, the Far Eastern Economic Review, Dow Jones Newswires, Dow Jones Indexes and MarketWatch.
Dow Jones is co-owner with Reuters Group of Factiva and with Hearstof SmartMoney. Dow Jones also provides news content to CNBC and radio stations in the U.S.
Attempts to reach ACBJ for comment were unsuccessful as of this writing.
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