Free Press owner acquires Uptown, Prime Times

Uptown GM expects to remain independent

Tessa Vanderhart, Staff

The recent acquisition of Uptown magazine by the owners of the Winnipeg Free Press will not lead to major changes in the content of either publication, according to representatives.

The merger — a result of the July 21 purchase of Rosebud Publications Inc. by Canstar Community News, a subsidiary of FP Newspapers Inc. — will mean that FP Newspapers owns 11 papers in the province. Most notably, FP owns the Free Press as well as the Brandon Sun.

Rosebud publishes Uptown, as well as the seniors’ weekly Prime Times.

Canstar publisher and general manager John Proven is certain that the power of the Uptown and Prime Times brands will make it financially beneficial to stick with the current formula.

“When you take over a business like that, you hope to grow it; that means providing an expanded product, and hopefully finding an advertising base to support that as well. So we think we’re supporting commerce in the community, and we’re most certainly adding an expanded and compelling package,” he said.

Proven said that Canstar, in attempting to appeal to the younger demographic, wants to model itself on larger cities such as Vancouver and Toronto, which he says are vibrant in that regard.

“We gained, obviously, a depth of talent from the Rosebud team, which included very strong design talent and editorial talent, as well as an expandeding our sales force — so from that perspective, it’s all good,” said Proven.

He added that it will be important to maintain the current staff and expand the resources available to them, to ensure that these publications continue to blossom in their respective roles.

“That’s a big part of the trick when you buy an asset that is a niche product, as well as making sure that you uphold what made it specific and special to its niche; so that is our challenge and has to be our commitment. Ultimately, if we are going to thrive as an enterprise and have these newspapers perform well, they have to be true to that niche,” said Proven.

Rudy Redekop, President of FP Newspapers Income Fund, also commented on the business aspects of the acquisition, saying that sharing a publisher will allow all FP papers to cut costs.

“We think that it is a strategic acquisition for us, and we will be able to gain these two audiences,” said Redekop. “It provides us with another two demographics in Winnipeg.”

Redekop said that a newfound synergy in the company will benefit the smaller papers. Rosebud Publications did not own presses, and now less real estate will be required, along with the inherent costs of operating two buildings.

“But we’ll need to keep salespeople and reporting staff, obviously, because they are dedicated to those specific publications,” said Redekop.

John Ross, general manager of Uptown, is confident that the magazine will remain independent.

“What we’re seeing right now, in our conversations with the owners, is that they like what they see right now — and they want to keep it the same,” he said. “They like the people that are putting out the product now.”

Ross added that the magazine will remain completely autonomous, despite moving to the Canstar office on St. James street in the coming weeks.

“One of the big benefits to the readers of Uptown is that they are probably going to have a little more accessibility to the product: we’re going to probably expand the circulation a little bit, put some more boxes on the street,” said Ross.

Redekop also thinks that FP-owned papers will remain competitive.

“Uptown goes out to about 17,000 locations and it’s delivered free, right? And it’s content is probably a little more cutting-edge than what the Tab is. The Tab goes out to all 135,000 subscribers of the Winnipeg Free Press, and obviously there’s a lot of advertisers who cannot afford the rates of the Winnipeg Free Press,” said Redekop. “You might go and pick up Uptown on a Thursday, but you might not buy the Free Press, just to get a Tab.”

In July 2004, FP Newspapers acquired Canstar Community News, alternately known as ‘the weeklies,’ as it publishes weekly neighbourhood newspapers including the Lance, the Herald, and the Metro. These free weeklies are augmented by an advertisement distribution business active in Winnipeg, Thunder Bay and Brandon, that is responsible for targeting specific demographics through flyer distribution and other means.

More information, including to-be determined financial details about the acquisition, will appear in the third quarterly report of FP Newspapers, which will become public in November.