Another one bites the dust. The Albuquerque Tribune has ceased publication. I was surprised to learn it was still around -- a city the size of ABQ can't support two papers (at the end, circulation had dropped below 10,000). The Cincinnati Post went under as of New Years Day, and I'm sure most of the rest of #2 papers in mid-sized markets will be gone soon.
I understand The owners of the Chicago Sun-Times are having a hard time finding buyers, although I believe Chicago is still big enough for two papers, at least for a while.
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There are several things which helped the Tribune alive as long as it was. One was that it was an afternoon newspaper, and that basically meant that it could report the morning east coast news while the ABQ Journal could not,giving it a bit of a niche (but not enough of one to counteract that most people wanted a morning paper only).
The other was a longstanding agreement with the Journal that the two would share printing services under a fixed cost-sharing formula which was extremely advantageous to the Tribune but that could not legally be transferred to a buyer.
Still, while I'm sad the Tribune folded I have to admit that I rarely read it. I'm a morning paper guy who lives in Santa Fe, and we have two choices already (the ABQ Journal North, or "Journal Santa Fe" as they call it now) and the Santa Fe New Mexican. The Tribune disappeared from most kiosks here 5 or 6 years ago and I only bought it on the rare occasions that I was in Albuquerque after noon and wanted a newspaper.
You are probably not much different from a lot of folks -- a paper fits our occasional needs, but we seldom buy it (or at least, not often enough to maintain it as a viable business).
As noted, it's circulation was something like 8,900 at the end. Not good enough.
I expect Tucson to be next.
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