# Failed Daily News Tonight Experiment

> Daily News Tonight collapsed after 18 months, costing the Tribune Company $36 million and reshaping media power in New York.
- Title: Failed Daily News Tonight Experiment · Vanity Fair | Shortify
- Summary: Daily News Tonight collapsed after 18 months, costing the Tribune Company $36 million and reshaping media power in New York. The Daily News' failed afternoon…
- Keywords: daily news, daily news tonight, rupert murdoch, new york post, trump, triple, Failed, Daily, News, Tonight, Experiment, Vanity Fair
- Source: Vanity Fair — https://vanityfair.com/story/new-york-daily-news-tonight-book
- Author: Matthew Pressman
- Published: 2026-10-05T18:50:46.86+00:00
- Read time: 2 min
- Topics: daily news, daily news tonight, rupert murdoch, new york post, trump, triple
## Failed Media Launch
The list of epically failed media launches in recent decades is dishearteningly long.
## Daily News Background
The New York Daily News launched in 1919 as America’s first tabloid, selling 2.4 million copies Monday through Saturday by 1947.
## Declining Readership
The Daily News lost readers throughout the 1960s and 70s as blue-collar workers moved out of New York City or ditched newspapers for TV.
## Rupert Murdoch's Post
Rupert Murdoch transformed the New York Post from a left-wing paper into a vehicle for 'skin, scandal, and sensationalism'.

> skin, scandal, and sensationalism
## Mike O'Neill's Mission
Mike O'Neill, editor since 1968, aimed to modernize the Daily News beyond crime and scandal stories.
## Consultants' Advice
High-priced consultants advised the Daily News that only newspapers with upscale appeal could survive.
## Daily News Tonight Launch
The Daily News spent $20 million to launch Daily News Tonight targeting Manhattan's affluent readers.
## Clay Felker's Role
Clay Felker, editor of Esquire, was hired to lead Daily News Tonight after being forced out by Murdoch.
## Target Audience
Daily News Tonight targeted readers of The New York Times and The Wall Street Journal, not the New York Post.
## Staff Tension
Daily News staff disliked Felker's highfalutin approach, nicknaming him 'Clayatollah' and rooting for his firing.

> Clayatollah
## Circulation Failure
Daily News Tonight sold only 100,000 copies per day, far below the projected 300,000.
## Rupert Murdoch's Response
Murdoch transformed the New York Post into an all-day newspaper to compete with Daily News.
## Clay Felker's Replacement
Clay Felker was replaced as editor of Daily News Tonight in June 1981 after 18 months.
## Tribune Company Sale
Tribune Company sold the Daily News to Robert Maxwell for $36 million in 1982.

> $36 million
## Aftermath
The Daily News survived with five Pulitzer Prizes, becoming 'New York’s Hometown Paper' despite media struggles.

> New York’s Hometown Paper
## Long-Term Impact
The Daily News' failed afternoon edition set it on a path from dominance to irrelevance.
## Key takeaway

The Daily News' failed afternoon edition, Daily News Tonight, collapsed after 18 months, costing the Tribune Company $36 million and reshaping media power in New York.