On Christmas Day, The Blade will be e-delivered, ushering in a new method of newspaper delivery on certain holidays.
“A revolution in publishing will begin on Christmas Day,” said Allan Block, chairman of Block Communications Inc., which owns The Blade.
"I’m excited about the chance to usher in the future, using an electronic delivery of the newspaper,” Mr. Block said. “The future is now, and a digital newspaper is better in every way. The newspaper will be published; it will look like what readers have become accustomed to, but it will be disseminated digitally.
“Readers have busy lives, especially on the holidays, and with electronic delivery, it is there when they decide they have the time to read it.”
Readers can download the Blade app for free on their smart phones or tablets from an app store, or they can get to the eBlade for a tablet at the app store or go online on their desktop or laptop to read the eBlade for free on Christmas Day, at http://eblade.toledoblade.com.
Besides Christmas, The Blade no longer will publish print editions on New Year’s Day, Memorial Day, the Fourth of July, and Labor Day.
However, the newspaper will continue to provide news and other content throughout Christmas Day on this website, toledoblade.com.
Because there will not be a print version on those five days, print editions on the day before will be beefed up.
For example, the Dec. 24 printed paper will have two days of TV listings, two crossword puzzles, two quizzes, and more.
The Homes section, usually in Friday’s edition, will be in Saturday’s paper after Christmas. Friday advertising supplements will either be in the Thursday or Saturday paper, depending on the wishes of the advertiser.
Luann Sharp, Blade spokesman and assistant managing editor, said the move will provide the newspaper some small financial savings, but the intent of the decision is to encourage more readers to try electronic versions of the newspaper, which many consider the future of the newspaper industry.
She added that for those subscribers who have no access to the Internet, they can contact customer service at 419-724-6300.