A federal judge in California issued a preliminary injunction Tuesday blocking Denver-based ap and New York-based Hearst Corp. from collaborating on certain business functions in the San Francisco Bay Area.
The two publishers had told the court they wouldn’t pursue any combination of their operations pending the resolution of a trial set for April on an antitrust complaint against them.
Last month, U.S. District Judge Susan Illston issued a temporary restraining order that the two companies refrain from collaborating to sell national advertising or consolidate their newspaper-distribution networks in the Bay Area.
In the preliminary injunction, Illston said: “The Court … wants to leave no confusion as to its expectations that defendants will comply with their stated intent not to pursue any of the agreements at issue.”
In a letter last April, Hearst, publisher of the San Francisco Chronicle, and MediaNews, publisher of The Denver Post and several northern California papers, had discussed possible cooperation.
San Francisco businessman Clinton Reilly filed a lawsuit seeking to block them.
Joseph Lodovic, president of MediaNews, said last month there has been no more dialogue between the companies about shared advertising or distribution.
