Wyong-Gosford a paper war zone

The last time John Fairfax and News Limited faced off in a newspaper war, Fairfax blinked first.

But Fairfax is determined it won't happen this time. The publisher won't let News run it out of the Central Coast daily paid newspaper market.

Fairfax reckons it caught News by surprise this time last week when it trumpeted the imminent launch of the Central Coast Herald with an eight-page wraparound with its free weekly, the Central Coast Sun Weekly.

Ever since Fairfax bought the Sun Weekly in July 2001, it had been a question of when, not if, the publisher would launch a paid daily paper for Central Coast readers.

With a population of 300,000, the Central Coast is as big as Canberra or Wollongong. And its $20 million advertising market is flourishing at a time when metropolitan advertising is languishing.

But the twin shires of Gosford and Wyong have been without a local paid daily paper until now, forced to make do instead with the Sydney-centric Daily Telegraph (published by News) or The Sydney Morning Herald (Fairfax). It left Fairfax with an opportunity it couldn't ignore especially as the company is under pressure from the sharemarket to expand.

News claims it was prepared for Fairfax to launch a new Central Coast paper when it did, even if the publishing date was brought forward and, at any rate, it didn't take the indefatigable competitor long to swing into action.

The same day the Central Coast Herald was announced, News said it would begin publishing a Coast edition of the Tele, the first to go on sale the day before the Coast Herald hit the stands.

News's spoiling tactics haven't ended there. It is now pumping out daily editions of the Central Coast Express Advocate, its free bi-weekly. News Ltd staff have been flown in to help produce the extra editions.

Barred from handing out copies of the Express Advocate on Central Coast railway platforms (Fairfax bought that privilege), News has been on the streets outside the stations this week, giving its paper away.

Tightening the screws on Fairfax even further, News has also halved the sale price of the Tele to 50c on both the Central Coast and the Hunter region (home to the Fairfax-published Newcastle Herald), forcing the Coast Herald to match the discount.

As Telegraph publisher Campbell Reid says: ``Any threat from anybody is always regarded by News very seriously."

And News firmly regards the Central Coast as its territory and isn't about to cede any ground to Fairfax without a fight.

Fairfax reckons that, having published the regional tabloid dailies which flank Sydney, the Central Coast is Fairfax territory too.

The shenanigans are reminiscent of the battle of the free commuter tabloids waged between News and Fairfax in Melbourne last year. Fairfax lasted seven months before it bowed out, claiming the dismal ad market meant it couldn't justify frittering away money on a free paper. News is still printing 90,000-plus copies a day of its mx, although it has yet to break even on the venture.

The economics of launching a new paper up north also make much more sense than they did down south. Modelling the Coast Herald on the successful and low-cost Newcastle Herald format has enabled Fairfax to keep its costs down. And the chances of making money are much better readers will actually be paying for this paper.

Fairfax swears it won't throw in the towel so easily on the Central Coast.

The publisher claims that whereas the launch of the Melbourne Express commuter tabloid was a tactical decision the launch of the Central Coast Herald has been a business decision.

Unlike Melbourne Express, which Fairfax hastily cobbled together when it became apparent News was about to launch mx, the Coast Herald has been in the planning for two years and has been budgeted for. The whole rationale for buying the Sun Weekly was to use it as a launching pad for a daily paid Central Coast newspaper.

Fairfax is adamant it is ``in it for the long haul".

It says home delivery sales of the new paper are strong and newsagent support has been ``tremendous". Underlining Fairfax's commitment to the Central Coast Herald, 30 new editorial staff have been hired.

But Fairfax knows it has stirred up a hornets' nest.

``We always knew this was a market News would fight hard to keep," declares Fairfax Regional and Community Newspapers boss Brian Evans. ``It's a bold move for Fairfax and obviously one we want to win."