Independent pairs with Sunday Denver Post for home delivery

Colorado Springs Business Journal, Apr 2, 2004 by Jan Mowle

The Colorado Springs Independent and the Denver Newspaper Agency have entered into a distribution agreement that allows subscribers to receive home delivery of the weekly alternative newspaper and the Sunday edition of the Denver Post.

The arrangement began March 18. We always wanted to have stand- alone home delivery and they agreed to deliver our paper along with the New York Times, the Wall Street Journal and other papers they distribute in this area, said John Weiss, publisher of the Independent. It helps the Post extend their reach as well.

Vern Mallinen, circulation marketing director for Denver Newspaper Agency, said the Post has always had an interest cultivating readers along the Front Range.

The Springs to Grand Junction is our merging back yard, Mallinen said. We would like to serve the Springs further.

Denver Newspaper Agency and the Independent are not business partners. It's purely a distribution agreement, Mallinen said. The Independent simply pays us a fee to throw their paper.

Weiss said home delivery, which costs $26 a year for the free publication, will help get the paper to people who have difficulty finding racks or live in areas where the paper is picked up quickly.

Some people in Monument, Briargate, Fountain and Teller County can't get the Independent as easily, Weiss said. Home delivery allows those readers to have the paper immediately on Thursday morning.

The Independent also has started selling ads in the Denver Post TV Week section for the Colorado Springs and Pikes Peak region. The television listing guide, which is delivered in the Sunday Post for southern Colorado subscribers, now includes local TV channel listings as well as local advertisements.

The Independent is using the TV Week section to promote the distribution/subscription agreement.

Mallinen said the Independent operates in similar way to an advertising agency when it sells ads in the TV Week section.

The Independent pays for the space in the TV Week, Mallinen said, so we receive revenue from sales. The Independent's sales representatives also enjoy the revenue or commission from making the sale.

We produce a regional television book and most of the advertising is unique to each region. We don't have a large sales staff for the regional areas.