www.newsandtech.com www.newsandtech.com November/December 2017 The premier resource for insight, analysis and technology integration in newspaper and hybrid operations and production. New York printer completes transition to violet CTP u BY TARA MCMEEKIN CONTRIBUTING WRITER Photo: Stellar Printing Stellar Photo: Stellar Printing of Long Island City, New York, tran- started it up with limited plate production, but we quickly sitioned from thermal to violet plate production this sum- got comfortable with it and transitioned more work over mer, installing two violet Advantage platesetters from Agfa. to it almost immediately.” Stellar primarily prints newspapers with press runs ranging from 500 to 500,000 copies. It also prints some Mix of presses magazine-style and booklet-style publications. Stellar’s Stellar operates six presses. To meet its demands for biggest accounts include New York’s largest Spanish-lan- magazine-style publications with glossy covers and sec- guage newspaper, El Diario, and the Daily Racing Form. tions, it runs a singlewide QuadStack unit with a Prime The first of the two Advantage N-DL XXT CTP pla- UV tower, which it added about seven years ago. The rest tesetters came online in early summer, with the second of the shop is composed of singlewide DGM and Goss unit following a few months later, according to Production Community coldset units. Director Ron Chiavaro. The printer is using Agfa’s N95 In total, Stellar is printing some 3 million copies per violet chemistry-free (VCF) plates and also installed two week at its facility. Attiro clean-out units. “To accommodate all of the different kinds and sizes Because Stellar had such a large inventory of thermal of publications — from 8-page to 64-page tabloids — we consumables — about 15,000 plates — remaining at that can run all black and white, all color, or a mix of both,” time, Chiavaro said it continued to phase out its existing Chiavaro said. “We also have a large bindery operation to platesetters until those consumables were used up. accommodate all of those products.” “We previously had four Kodak CTP devices and in Stellar prints newspapers with press runs ranging Some jobs are trimmed and stitched and some are order to use up our existing inventory, we initially installed from 500 to 500,000 copies, as well as magazine- simply inserted together without stitching. just one of the Agfa units,” he told News & Tech. “We style and booklet-style publications. Violet CTP continued on page 5 Content marketer Keywee puts focus on publishers u BY CHRIS LYTIKAINEN MANAGING EDITOR For those of us wondering how publishers tors provided $9.1 million in funding for Key- can narrow down key words and phrases to get like The New York Times get the content we are wee, with some funding coming from Alphabet the right content in the right place.” interested in directly to us, there is an answer: Chairman Eric Schmidt’s Innovation Endeavors, Once they have found the right people for Keywee, a platform aimed at marketers and Marker LLC, The New York Times and accelerator the content, Keywee runs advertisements to publishers. The automated service scans and UpWest Labs. reach those audiences. analyzes keywords in your content and finds the Getting content to the right audience can “Now that we understand the content, audiences on social media most likely to engage be laborious for publishers. Keywee, headquar- we auto-generate paid posts that have click- with those topics. tered in New York and Tel Aviv, uses its systems -through rates 10 to 15 times the industry aver- Keywee maintains a running relationship to ease that task, according to the company. The age. Basically, we provide high quality audiences with a number of well-known publishers in the platform uses "text-mining technology and a for low bids,” Rosenberg said. industry, including the BBC, The New York Times, vast database of historical content performance “Keywee built a unique solution that is National Geographic, and Slate. A group of inves- to help publishers, retailers and brands find the designed to help the publisher community create audiences most likely to meet more relevant content and impactful stories,” specific business goals for their Kunal Merchant, audience insights partner- content," says its website. ship lead, Facebook, said in a quote on Keywee’s To learn more about the website. platform, News & Tech spoke to Another of Keywee’s features is native video Turn to Zack Rosenberg, head of sales at advertising. They use a process similar to the one Keywee. used for articles. page 37 “We have been proud of our To see more of what Keywee is doing, check for expanded performance, and our publishers the website, as frequent informational webinars have responded in turn,” Rosen- are offered (for example, How Publishers Can industry berg said. Build A Profitable Video Business with Facebook, “The system starts by scan- Keywee, & JW Player, hosted on November 7). p coverage ning each piece of content so we News & Tech November/December 2017 u 1 www.newsandtech.com — Let’s write the future. With retrofit solutions that give your press another ten years of life. ABB’s retrofit solutions for newspaper presses will extend the productive life of your press, improve print quality, reduce waste and improve efficiency — for a fraction of the cost of a new press. Worried about the availability of spare parts for your existing controls? With an ABB retrofit you know that spares will be available worldwide for ten to fifteen years. Whether looking for replacement drives, new controls, conversion to shaftless or a complete press reconfiguration, ABB has the right solution for you. The key to the future of your printing business lies with ABB. www.abb.com/printing 2 t November/December 2017 News & Tech uIndustry Mergers & Acquisitions GateHouse buying Sherman Publishing GateHouse Media is buying the Edward A. Sherman Publishing Com- would never come, when I must tell you all that the Sherman family has pany, a family business based in Newport, Rhode Island. Terms of the deal, decided that we must sell the papers,” Albert K. “Buck” Sherman Jr., retired which is scheduled to be finalized on Nov. 1, have not been disclosed, The publisher of The Daily News and president of Sherman Publishing's board of Newport Daily News reported. directors, said when announcing the sale to the company's employees. The sale includes The Newport Daily News, The Independent, Newport “I have a deep respect for the Sherman family and all they have done to Life Magazine, South County Life Magazine and Mercury, among other publi- serve the communities in Newport and South counties with their newspapers cations, and Sherman Publishing's commercial printing division. No changes and magazines,” said Kirk Davis, CEO of GateHouse Media in staffing or production schedules have been announced. GateHouse Media publishes 125 daily newspapers and more than 600 “Today is one of the saddest days of my life, a day I have always hoped community publications in 38 states. Adams Publishing acquires NC group Minneapolis-based Adams Publishing (West Jefferson). Also included in the transaction newspapers and I've thoroughly enjoyed work- Group is acquiring a Mount Airy, North Carolina, is The Carroll News in Hillsville, Virginia. ing with them. While the decision to divest was group of publications and associated websites "We're very excited to welcome the Mount very difficult, it was driven mostly by my belief from Champion Media, effective November 1. Airy Group and its associates to our family of that they will have a very bright future with APG," Newspapers included in the sale are The Mount companies," said APG Chairman Stephen Adams. Champion said. Airy News, the Surry Scene, The Tribune (Elkin), Champion Media CEO Scott Champion Cribb, Greene & Cope represented Adams The Yadkin Ripple, The Stokes News (King), The expressed mixed emotions about his decision Publishing Group in this transaction. Terms of the Pilot (Pilot Mountain) and the Jefferson Post to sell the properties. "This is a great group of deal were not disclosed. Hearst to buy Rodale Hearst has agreed to acquire the magazine and book businesses of The announcement was made Oct. 18 by Hearst CEO Steven R. Swartz, Rodale, a health and wellness content company based in New York and Em- Rodale CEO Maria Rodale and Hearst Magazines President David Carey. The maus, Pennsylvania, a Hearst press release said. transaction is expected to close in early 2018, following necessary government With 93 editions in 64 countries, Rodale publishes numerous health and approvals. Terms were not disclosed. wellness lifestyle brands, including Men’s Health, Women’s Health, Prevention, Upon completion of the acquisition, Rodale’s content business will be Rodale’s Organic Life, Runner’s World and Bicycling. Rodale Books is known managed by Hearst Magazines, a unit of Hearst with more than 300 editions for titles including Al Gore’s "An Inconvenient Truth," Starbucks CEO Howard and websites around the world, including 20 titles in the U.S. Schultz’s "Onward" and Dave Asprey’s "The Bulletproof Diet." The division’s Allen & Company LLC acted as financial advisor to Rodale in its sale and series include "Thug Kitchen," "Wheat Belly" and "The South Beach Diet." Wachtell, Lipton, Rosen & Katz acted as legal advisor. S.C. papers sold to Lowcountry B.J. Frazier, owner of Coastal Fun Info, experience in the newspaper and digital industry. for me to slow down a bit. “I am fortunate to have publishers of The Bluffton Sun, Hilton Head Sun Frazier was represented in the sale by David found Kevin, such an experienced local individual, and Sun City Sun (South Carolina) community Slavin, senior associate of W.B.