Homescape Announces 8 Bay Area Newspapers Join Platform
CHICAGO - February 28, 2008 - Homescape®, the trusted local source for comprehensive real estate listings and rich content online, today announced that five additional newspapers have launched their real estate channels on the Homescape platform. All five newspapers, as well as an additional three newspapers slated to launch on Homescape this quarter, are owned by MediaNews Group and are part of the Inside Bay Area Network of newspapers which serve Northern California.
“We welcome these additional Northern California MediaNews Group newspapers into the Homescape family,” said Tim Fagan, President of Classified Ventures Real Estate. “Their addition to our platform validates the continued progression of Homescape as the go-to resource for consumers and real estate professionals on both a local and national level.”
“We are very pleased to have our Bay Area Web sites all powered by Homescape,” said Regan Senkarik, VP, Interactive Bay Area News Group. “Homescape has had a long-standing relationship with MercuryNews.com and ContraCostaTimes.com, and we were excited to add these additional newspapers to our partnership. As we combine our local strength and trusted reputation as a news leader with Homescape’s national branding solution in real estate, we can better serve our audience with the on-demand tools and services they need.”
The Oakland Tribune, Daily Review, Tri-Valley Herald, The Argus and the San Mateo County Times launched their online real estate channels on Homescape this month. The Vacaville Reporter, Vallejo Times Herald and Santa Cruz Sentinel are also committed to launch on Homescape this quarter.
The Homescape Web site provides consumers across America access to more than 3.5 million homes for sale and over ten million active property photos, simplifying the home search for buyers by allowing them to find resale, new construction, newspaper classifieds and open house properties through one easy search. The site also provides advertising opportunities with priority placement and unlimited photos for real estate professionals, while driving engaged consumer traffic directly to their listings.
Homescape is a division of Chicago-based Classified Ventures, LLC, a strategic joint venture owned by Belo Corporation, Gannett Co., Inc., The McClatchy Company, Tribune Company and The Washington Post Company. Homescape powers search tools and mapping technology for homes from major national and local partners including Century 21 Real Estate, Coldwell Banker Real Estate, ERA Real Estate, Sotheby’s International Realty, Keller Williams International Realty, Real Living, and Prudential California/Nevada/Texas, while still connecting consumers with long-time newspaper resale and new construction partners, including Long & Foster Real Estate, Weichert Realtors and Ryland Homes.
MediaNews Group
MediaNews Group is one of the largest newspaper companies in the United States situated throughout California, the Rocky Mountain region and the Northeast. The company is privately owned and operates 57 daily newspapers in 12 states with combined daily and Sunday circulation of approximately 2.6 million and 2.9 million, respectively. Each newspaper in the Group maintains a Web site focused on local news content. These Web sites are hosted by MediaNews Group Interactive, the new media division. MediaNews Group also owns a television station, a CBS affiliate in Anchorage, AK and operates radio stations in Texas.
Homescape
Homescape provides local, comprehensive property listings and rich content to consumers nationwide, while delivering a suite of advertising solutions that offer choice and results to meet the individual needs of real estate agents, brokers, builders and private party advertisers. Homescape also serves a network of over 130 local online newspaper Web sites nationwide with a full suite of online advertising solutions. Our network includes The Arizona Republic, Chicago Tribune, The Dallas Morning News, The Miami Herald and The Washington Post. For more information, visit http://www.homescape.com.
Classified Ventures
Classified Ventures is a strategic joint venture among five media companies, including Belo Corp., Gannett Co. Inc., The McClatchy Co., Tribune Co. and The Washington Post Co., whose objectives are to collectively capitalize on the revenue growth in the online advertising categories of automotive, real estate and rentals. To execute on its objectives, Classified Ventures has four leading businesses – Apartments.com, Cars.com, HomeGain and Homescape.