AT&T Closes Down Some Florida Directories

AT&T Advertising Solutions had decided to stop publication of five Florida directories: Tampa, Clearwater/St. Petersburg, Polk, West Pasco and Sarasota. In each of these market, AT&T is the competitive publishers, with either DexOne or SuperMedia being the incumbent. AT&T had expanded into these markets several years ago to take advantage of its presence in contiguous markets.

An AT&T spokesman told us that the company is communicating its decision to stop publishing the printed books to advertisers through its sales reps. AT&T plans to continue selling its YP.com and Digital Express (direct mail), SEM and video products in these markets.

This decision reflects a trend BIA/Kelsey expects will accelerate, with publisher shedding underperforming printed products, particularly books where the publisher is not the market leader. SuperMedia has undergone a similar process in discontuing much of its indepedent directory business in recent years.