Tribune’s Hoy to Launch L.A. Edition on March 1

Tribune Co. said Monday that it had set a March 1 launch for the Los Angeles edition of its Spanish-language daily Hoy.

The paper will compete in Southern California with La Opinion, the largest Spanish- language newspaper in the country. Hoy will publish four zoned editions, providing local news and advertising specific to Latino readers in Los Angeles, Orange County-Long Beach, San Gabriel-Inland Empire and the San Fernando Valley.

The editor will be Reynaldo Mena, who from 1999 to 2003 edited Excelsior, a Spanish- language weekly published by the Orange County Register.

Editions of Hoy will include eight pages of sports coverage, as well as entertainment news. A special weekend guide, Vida Hoy, will cover restaurants, events, music, television, movies and other entertainment news and features.

Hoy will dedicate region- specific pages each day to news from Central America, South America, Mexico, Puerto Rico and the Caribbean.

The tabloid newspaper, based in downtown Los Angeles, will be published Monday through Friday and sell for 25 cents at newsstands and retail outlets.

Initial circulation targets were not divulged, but a Tribune spokeswoman said circulation would be audited by an outside agency and results released in six months.

Tribune already publishes editions of Hoy in Chicago and New York, where the 5-year-old paper has a circulation of almost 94,000. Chicago-based Tribune also owns the Los Angeles Times.

Tribune shares fell 4 cents to $50.91 on the New York Stock Exchange.