One thing about the Tampa market: journalists love that two big dailies are fighting over turf. Keeps people on their toes.

In 2004, the St. Petersburg Times launched “tbt,” one of those youth-targeted tabloids. That move eventually (keyword: eventually) riled up The Tampa Tribune to launch its own tabloid. Six month later, executives have closed The Tribune’s “Orange” because, “it didn't meet business expectations.”

The main misstep was the timing. Tribune’s slow reaction meant it entered a saturated market, not an emerging one. Here’s how St. Pete’s media critic, Eric Deggans, reports it:

Orange faced serious competition locally: Besides Creative Loafing, there is a music-focused monthly tabloid, Reax; a biweekly alternative tabloid, Tampa Bay Scene; and daily and weekly versions of the St. Petersburg Times' free tabloid, tbt*/Tampa Bay Times . . . "You have to make sure you're aiming toward a group that is not well-served," said Mary Nesbitt, managing director of Northwestern University's Readership Institute. "Reaching that target is more difficult when you have a lot of competition, because they have already carved it all up."

I respect any company that recognizes a product isn’t working and tries something else. Here’s what The Tribune should try next. They need a super niche.

For those of you who aren’t from the Tampa area, where I’ve spent several years, the place to party is the infamous Ybor City. Although not a large area, it’s filled with clubs and restaurants and things to do. It’s the type of place where streets are closed and turned into giant sidewalks packed with partiers.

If The Tribune wants to capture a younger audience, create a weekly that covers Ybor City, and only Ybor City. Put the word, "Ybor," in the masthead. Market it as vital to planning your night out. Fill it with photos of people on the scene. Offer a “Sex in the City” type column. Track how many people show up at each club, each night, so partiers know where to go.

Since thousands of people come to Ybor each week from all over the city, the potential market is the same as tbt. But focusing on Ybor makes coverage cheaper than mirroring tbt, which reports all pop culture and news from a youthful perspective. A Ybor City publication covers partying. Only partying. Keep it simple.