• by January 23, 2006

The San Francisco Chronicle has joined a growing number of newspapers in launching a TV program to carry classified advertising in what industry observers view as another step to protect its turf from the likes of online competitors like Craigslist.com.

The Chronicle announced that this week it will launch a 30-minute television program called "Chronicle Jobs TV" that will run three times a week on UPN Bay Area Channel 44 at 5:30 a.m., Monday through Wednesday.

The newspaper said the move is designed to provide Bay Area employers and job-seekers with a third source of information about available jobs, in addition to the Chronicle's Web site and classified ads published in its daily print editions.

"No one else in the market is able to offer such an effective and multi-tiered approach to its advertisers in reaching job seekers--active and passive," said Phyllis Pfeiffer, the Chronicle's senior vice president of advertising. "We've worked long and hard on this program to make it appealing to advertisers not only on a cost basis, but also on a reach and frequency basis."

Classifieds on "Chronicle Jobs TV" will be up to 30 seconds in length and will be divided into six categories: general, sales and marketing, professional, health care, skills and trades, and technology. In addition to appearing three consecutive days on the TV show, the ads will also be streaming at www.SFGate.com for a one-week period.

The show is being created by Digital Media Classifieds, a Denver-based company that makes customized TV programs as well as Internet videos for online and print publishers. Company founder Evan Neubeiser said at least 100 newspapers nationwide have similar TV shows, and that many of them go beyond recruitment advertising to include categories like automotive, real estate, and rentals. Among his larger newspaper clients, he said, are the Houston Chronicle, the Arizona Republic, and the Dallas Morning News.

Rob Runett, director of electronic media communications at the Newspaper Association of America, characterized the Chronicle's new show as "another metropolitan newspaper being aggressive about extending its ad platforms for its customers."

He said it was a natural progression for newspapers that already provide classifieds on their Web site to extend the service to a television platform.

"Newspapers like the Chronicle and others are looking at as many ways as possible to continue their relationship and be a strong partner with their employment advertisers, and this is the logical next step," he said.