Beacon Communications Corporation

Infobox Defunct Company
company_name = Beacon Communications Corp.
company_logo =
slogan =
fate = Bought, then dissolved
successor = Community Newspaper Company
foundation = 1945
defunct = January 11, 1996
location = 20 Main Street, Acton, Massachusetts 01720 USA
industry = Newspapers
key_people =
products = "Enterprise-Sun" dailies and 11 weekly newspapers in Boston suburbs
num_employees = 1993: 190
parent = Independent, 1945-1984 "Worcester Telegram", 1984-1986 Chronicle Publishing Co., 1986-1993 Fidelity Investments, 1993-1996
subsid =

: "This article is about a defunct publisher in Massachusetts. For the newspaper company in Rhode Island, see Beacon Communications (publisher)."

Beacon Communications Corp. was a newspaper publisher in Acton, Massachusetts, USA, operating a dozen weekly newspapers as well as daily newspapers in Hudson and Marlborough, Massachusetts. It was bought by Fidelity Investments in 1993 and incorporated into Community Newspaper Company, Massachusetts' largest weekly newspaper publisher, now owned by GateHouse Media.

History

Beacon's history begins in the 1940s with the first issues of "The Beacon" newspaper, later for a time called the "Assabet Valley Beacon". The newspaper eventually grew to cover the towns of Acton, Boxborough, Maynard and Stow, just west of Concord, Massachusetts.

Over time, "The Beacon"'s publishers acquired other weeklies in neighboring towns, including titles as far east as Lexington and Burlington. The company's last independent owners were Joseph V. Stuart and Robert E. Anderson, who sold the papers in 1984 to the owners of the "Worcester Telegram" daily newspaper in Worcester.Tolman, Lynne. "Beacon Under Owner's Review; 12 Are 'Relieved of Responsibilities'". "Telegram & Gazette" (Worcester, Mass.), page C27, February 16, 1989.]

Chronicle

Under "Telegram" ownership, Beacon took on responsibility for the "Hudson Daily Sun and Marlboro Enterprise", two small daily newspapers at the southern end of Beacon's coverage area. The dailies had been sold to the "Telegram" in 1969. [Frain, Mary. "Marlboro Enterprise is 100". "Telegram & Gazette" (Worcester, Mass.), page B1, September 3, 1989.]

The sale also tied Beacon to independent mid-sized dailies, the "Telegram" and "Evening Gazette", in an industry rapidly consolidating. With the death of "Telegram" owner Robert W. Stoddard in December 1984, the company was sold 21 months later to Chronicle Publishing Company of San Francisco, California. [Kranish, Michael. "Firm Agrees to Buy Worcester Papers". "The Boston Globe", October 8, 1986.]

Chronicle's investment in Massachusetts continued in 1989 with the purchase of the "Southborough Villager", a 1,500-circulation weekly that was added to Beacon's roster. Peter E. Thieriot, Chronicle's local publisher, said "I have expressed my hope and desire that Beacon grow both internally and through acquisition. This is the acquisition." ["Chronicle Publishing to Buy Southboro Villager". "Telegram & Gazette" (Worcester, Mass.), page 15, June 24, 1989.]

In the Chronicle years, however, Beacon's corporate ownership usually had its hands full with its Worcester property -- turning two commonly owned but competing newsrooms into one staff, and finally shuttering an evening newspaper to concentrate on a combined morning edition. With its focus solely on Worcester County, said a Chronicle executive, it "was logical" to sell Beacon.Donker, Peter P. "T&G Parent Sells Beacon Newspapers". "Telegram & Gazette" (Worcester, Mass.), May 28, 1993.]

Fidelity

The buyer was Fidelity Investments' Community Newspaper Company, which in 1993 was already the dominant weekly newspaper publisher in north and west suburban Boston. Beacon Communications filled a hole in CNC's coverage arc from MetroWest (Tab Communications) to Essex County (Bay State Newspaper Company and North Shore Weeklies).

With the purchase, CNC's weekly circulation rose to 630,000, a number higher than the daily circulation of "The Boston Globe", and CNC passed another milestone: the "Sun" and "Enterprise", which CNC combined into one "Enterprise-Sun", became the company's first daily newspaper.

Beacon Communications, like most CNC acquisitions, was initially run as a semi-autonomous subsidiary. When News-Transcript Group was bought in 1995, Beacon's "Enterprise-Sun" initially seemed set to continue competing -- not very successfully -- with the "Middlesex News", which had a bureau in Marlborough. Instead, CNC folded its first daily, converting it into two weeklies and a West Edition for the "News". [Nutile, Tom, and Steven Syre. "On State Street: Newspaper Changes". "Boston Herald", page 26, August 11, 1995.]

The separate companies were dissolved in early 1996, when CNC realigned its operating units by geography. Beacon's original papers formed the core of the new Northwest Unit, while the Hudson, Marlborough and Southborough weeklies joined the West Unit. [Cassidy, Tina. "Community Newspaper Realigns Properties". "The Boston Globe", January 12, 1996.]

Properties

Upon its sale to CNC in 1993, Beacon Communications consisted of 11 weekly newspapers and two daily titles (produced by the same newsroom), all in Middlesex County, Massachusetts:
* "Hudson Daily Sun" of Hudson
* "Marlboro Enterprise" daily of Marlborough
* "The Beacon" of Acton and Boxborough
* "The Beacon" of Maynard and Stow
* "Bedford Minute-Man" of Bedford
* "Burlington Times-Union" of Burlington
* "Chelmsford Independent" of Chelmsford
* "The Concord Journal" of Concord
* "Lexington Minute-Man" of Lexington
* "Lincoln Journal" of Lincoln
* "Minute-Man Chronicle" of Acton
* "Southborough Villager" of Southborough
* "Westford Eagle" of Westford

The "Minute-Man Chronicle", a twice-weekly regional supplement, was first renamed "Weekend Extra" and then discontinued; all the other Beacon papers still publish today. The dailies have been converted to weeklies ("Hudson Sun" and "Marlborough Enterprise"), the spelling of "Minuteman" has changed, the Burlington paper dropped the name "Times" and the Maynard-Stow paper is now called "The Beacon-Villager" to distinguish it from the Acton-Boxborough paper.

References