Newspaper set to enter Dunedin market

5 December 2007

By The Press

The "one-horse" newspaper town of Dunedin is in for a shake-up as a new joint venture firm launches a glossy-cover tabloid weekly giveaway.

It is a sister publication to Queenstown's Mountain Scene and will be boldly thrust into every letter box early in 2008 in a city known for traditions and where the Otago Daily Times (ODT) has ruled the roost for many years since being founded in 1861.

The new newspaper will be owned by Scene Media -- a joint venture between the majority owner, Mountain Scene, owned by the family of Barry Thomas, and Ashburton's Guardian Print and Guardian newspaper.

Market research by the owners had pointed towards Dunedin as being the launching point, although other cities, including Christchurch and Invercargill, had been considered, a businessman behind the Scene Media venture said.

Scene Media will look to print 45,000 copies of the hard-edged, editorially-driven city newspaper along with an integrated website into the Dunedin market.

Barry Thomas and family have other interests in the south including gondola, casino and accommodation ventures, and his son Richard is the driving force behind the new publication.

"It will be editorially driven -- fairly edgy, racy editorial content ... in Queenstown we take the public watchdog role very seriously, and hold the regulatory authorities and local council and health board, for example, to do the best they should for the community," Mountain Scene general manager Richard Thomas said.

"That will be similar in style to what we do in Dunedin."

The publication's "risk tolerance" would be higher than competitors like the ODT, he said.

Mountain Scene typically spent a lot on legal bills, particularly vetting stories in a protective sense.

"It's a pretty competitive market down there, some would say a bit of a one-horse town (but) we're not going to be competing head-to-head with the ODT. That would be silly."

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