The paper's parent company, Gannett, said the conversion will take place in 2012, though ironically it won't be the Enquirer doing the actual printing. Instead the printing of the Enquirer will be turned over to The Columbus Dispatch, which produces the newspaper of the state capital 160km to the northeast.
The Dispatch indicated its title will make the same conversion in 2013 to the 3V format, which is developed and marketed by St. Louis-based Pressline Services.
The 3V retrofits printing cylinders so they print three, rather than two, sheets in a single revolution. The result is a paper that looks like a broadsheet, but is only 14.6 x 10.5in rather than the current 22 x 11.5in size for many US broadsheets.
In an interview with PrintWeek, Pressline senior VP/General Manager Jim Gore would not comment on whether other US papers may soon follow the Enquirer and Dispatch in moving to the new format, but added, "Are there other people we're engaged with? Yes."
The Dispatch uses TKS M-72 presses, but Gore stressed that Pressline's patent-pending technology can work with a number of different newspaper presses, adding, "As far as the cost to actually convert, it varies on a site-by-site basis.
While many newspapers in other parts of the world, including The Times of London, made the conversion to tabloid formats years ago as a cost-saving and aesthetic measure, the US - save for a few exceptions such as the New York Daily News, New York Post and Chicago Sun-Times - remains a broadsheet newspaper nation.
What makes the 3V format so appealing to US consumers who've grown up with broadsheets is that it doesn't change that basic look, Gore said.
"It prints as a broadsheet and you can have four sections or six sections or however many section your press can print," he added. "This is the first and we have patent pending on the process and the different pieces.
"The 3V format can reduce newsprint usage by up to 33%, while also providing additional productivity savings thanks to the extra speed in the straight mode and the extra color in its collect mode," Gore added.
One casualty of this whole process will be the Enquirer's current printing facility, which will be closed in Q4 2012 once the conversion to printing in Columbus is completed.
Cincinnati newspaper to become first with new compact, sectioned print format
The <i>Cincinnati Enquirer</i> will become the first newspaper in the world to convert to a new press configuration that provides a smaller size while maintaining both the broadsheet look and individual sections.
