Media General pairs with Groupon to offer deals

RICHMOND, Va. -- Media General Inc., publisher of the Richmond Times-Dispatch, Tampa Tribune and other newspapers, is teaming up with Groupon.com, a company that offers daily group discounts via the Web.

It's another avenue traditional publishers are exploring in their struggle to earn more money from their websites and other online offerings as revenue from print advertising continues to decline.

The idea behind Groupon and similar services that have popped up since it launched last year is this: Local businesses offer potential customers deep discounts for a limited time and only if a certain number of other people also take advantage of the deal. Groupon and the local business share the resulting revenue.

Media General is betting that a partnership with Groupon will offer another source of much-needed cash and an increase in traffic to its websites. It did not reveal details of how it will share proceeds with Groupon, which was launched almost two years ago in Chicago.

The publisher started offering Groupon deals this week at the website of the Times-Dispatch. Readers at the site can sign up for an e-mail alert with a new local deal each day. It plans to introduce the service in six other markets by the end of the year.

Media General isn't the first traditional publisher to pick up on the daily discount phenomenon. The Minneapolis Star Tribune has a page called "Steals" that offers similar promotions.