It has been nearly a decade since The Indianapolis Star, Indiana’s largest newspaper, shopped for an outside agency. But last week, the paper and its StarNews online service took bids from shops for its creative account.
The deadline for interested agencies was Friday, Dec. 1. Billings were not disclosed, but pa-pers of that size generally spend in the low seven figures. A client representative confirmed that proposal requests have been sent out but declined to give further details.
The paper is currently without an agency. Two shops that are going after the account are Caldwell VanRiper/Marc, which was the Star’s lead agency from 1977 until about 1992, and Montegomery Zukerman Davis, both in Indianapolis. Agency officials confirmed their participation but declined to give details.
One agency declined participation, claiming the production budget was underpriced.
The decision to seek an outside agency came after the paper’s parent company, Central Newspapers, was acquired by Gannett Co. in Arlington, Va., six months ago. The purchase price for Central Newspapers, which also publishes The Arizona Republic in Phoenix, was a $2.4 billion plus debt deal, according to published reports.
The Indianapolis Star reports a daily circulation of 230,000, with Sunday circulation of 390,000.
An agency is expected to be chosen by late January, sources said.
Indianapolis Star Seeks Agency
