At the time he told How-Do: “We don’t really have the resources to do it on our own so we’re looking to partner with someone. Ideally it would be a situation not dissimilar to North Wales Newspapers teaming up with Johnston Press but there’s no one around us – apart from Halifax which is over the hill.”
It now seems co-ownership of Rochdale Online has provided a solution and one which is a bit nearer than Halifax….
Rochdale Online was established ten years ago by Malcolm Journeaux.
The news and information website was relaunched in March this year. The site styles itself as ‘Rochdale's definitive website’.
In addition to significant traffic, Rochdale Online’s web development team also creates and manages websites for companies and currently claims to have over 100 companies on its (digital) books.
Hirst said: “The Chronicle’s website has been around for about eight years. It’s popular – we’ve clocked up over 6,000,000 visitors in that time - but it’s definitely showing its age.
“In choosing a company to help us redevelop the site, we wanted to think local and we’ve found an excellent partner in Rochdale Online, which has had a big impact on the web scene just next door to Oldham.
“It has developed a very popular site of its own in which the viewers play a big role, and we hope that we can follow this path in Oldham, providing more interactivity with our readers, viewers and advertisers, as well as a wonderful news service.
Journeaux
“From an advertising point of view, the combination of daily and free Oldham newspapers, the online E-Chron and the new website will be unique, not to mention the Chronicle’s radio station, 96.2 The Revolution – that kind of package is an advertiser’s dream, delivering a big tranche of the borough’s population.
“We’ve also become a co-owner of Rochdale Online because we believe the company has great potential to develop its web portals further and provide excellent website solutions to its advertisers and customers.”
Malcolm Journeaux added: “I am delighted that Rochdale Online is now co-owned by such a well established and reputable company with a long tradition in media production, this can only strengthen the appeal of our products and services to potential clients; having the expertise of Philip Hirst on the board is also a major plus and I very much look forward to his contribution to our strategic aims.”
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