Sun-Times, Tribune extend printing and distribution deal

Agreement between the two newspaper companies was to expire at the end of this year; new terms not disclosed.

SHARE Sun-Times, Tribune extend printing and distribution deal
Screen_Shot_2019_12_09_at_5.38.26_PM.png

The cover of the Dec. 9, 2019, Chicago Sun-Times.

Sun-Times Media

Sun-Times Media and Tribune Publishing said Monday they have reached an agreement for continued printing and distribution of the Chicago Sun-Times. Terms of the agreement were not announced.

The Sun-Times’ contract with the owner of the Chicago Tribune had been due to expire at the end of this year. Both newspapers are produced at the Freedom Center plant at 777 W. Chicago Ave., which Tribune operates under a lease.

Published reports in 2017 said the contract cost the Sun-Times about $25 million per year. Sources close to the Sun-Times said the new agreement provides considerable savings.

In an email to Sun-Times Media employees, Interim CEO Nykia Wright said, “We’ve succeeded in restructuring and extending our agreement with Tribune Publishing to print and deliver the Sun-Times. While we still have much work to do, the new contract represents a positive step forward in improving the financial health of our business.

“As part of this, there will be some adjustments to our deadlines and production process that we hope will grow our readership and keep us serving our city and region for years to come.’’

Tilden Katz, a spokesman for Tribune Publishing, confirmed the contract extension but declined additional comment.

The Sun-Times closed its own printing plant and hired Tribune for the work in 2011. Since then, newspaper publishers nationwide have seen major declines in advertising and circulation revenues as digital consumption of news increases.

The Chicago Tribune Freedom Center printing plant, at 777 W. Chicago Ave. | Sun-Times file photo

Sun-Times file photo

The Freedom Center property is being marketed for a potential multi-use development and had been part of the city’s failed bid to attract Amazon’s corporate headquarters.

With a lease on the property until 2023 and two 10-year renewal options after that, Tribune would have to be bought out if any developer wanted to evict the printing presses.

The Latest
The Bears have spent months studying the draft. They’ll spend the next one plotting what could happen.
Woman is getting anxious about how often she has to host her husband’s hunting buddy and his wife, who don’t contribute at all to mealtimes.
He launched a campaign against a proposed neo-Nazis march at a time the suburb was home to many Holocaust survivors. His rabbi at Skokie Central Congregation urged Jews to ignore the Nazis. “I jumped up and said, ‘No, Rabbi. We will not stay home and close the windows.’ ”
That the Bears can just diesel their way in, Bronko Nagurski-style, and attempt to set a sweeping agenda for the future of one of the world’s most iconic water frontages is more than a bit troubling.