Morris Multimedia Inc, owner of the Effingham Herald,. announced Thursday that it will be licensing the Savannah Pennysaver to the Savannah Morning News in Savannah and the Morning News will publish and operate the product beginning with the issue on Wednesday, April 29.
Charles Morris, president and CEO of Morris Multimedia Inc. said, “The Morning News has been a stakeholder in the Savannah Pennysaver since we entered into an agreement with them in November 2008 whereby the Morning News sold inserts into the Savannah Pennysaver on a revenue-share formula, so we felt they were the logical business entity to take over the operation of the Pennysaver. The Morning News has been our printer for both the Pennysaver and Connect Savannah, so there has been a long history between the two businesses.”
Morris added, “In today’s media environment, scale and synergy are critically important, and in that vein the Pennysaver is a natural fit for the Savannah Morning News. In our business, our most successful shoppers are not stand-alone products and typically are accompanied by a newspaper and associated digital product in the market. We did not have that opportunity in the Savannah market, and in these challenging media times, we needed to move in a different direction.”
Joe McGlamery, regional vice president for Morris publications in Southeast Georgia said, “This arrangement makes a great deal of sense on many levels, offering the synergy of sales, production, warehousing and distribution, among others.”
Connect Savannah, the alternative weekly newspaper that is also owned by Morris Multimedia, will not be impacted by this licensing agreement, but will continue to be printed by the Savannah Morning News under a new printing agreement which will offer Connect additional color capacity immediately, McGlamery said.
Morris Multimedia Inc. is one of the largest privately owned media companies in the United States. The company and its affiliates operate broadcast television stations, newspaper publishing, out-of-home advertising and accompanying digital products in ten states and the Caribbean.
