Tampa Bay Times print edition scaled back

March 30, 2020

NSF Staff

The Tampa Bay Times, long one of Florida’s largest and most-influential newspapers, announced Monday it will scale back to producing print editions only on Wednesdays and Sundays, beginning next week. The Times will continue publishing seven days a week online. In a note to subscribers, Chairman and CEO Paul Tash pointed to the novel coronavirus, writing that “while we are in the depths of this pandemic, we simply cannot afford to produce the ink-and-paper version every day.” Tash said retailers have canceled more than $1 million in already-scheduled advertising during the past two weeks and that the Times must reduce costs until advertising revenues recover. He also said the Times will start employee furloughs next week. “Newspaper publishing was already a challenging business, even before the pandemic,” Tash wrote. “More than half our revenue comes from advertisers. The screeching halt to the economy has sent sales plummeting for many businesses, and everybody is anxious about the future.”