The Comet will start printing News Limited’s Northern Territory News at the end of next year.  The Northern Territory News, a tabloid title launched in 1952, has a circulation of around 47,000 copies per day on weekdays and 55,000 on Saturdays.

Bart Irwin, production manager at NT News told Australian Printer that the investment will slash the number of print runs needed, with the new Comet able to print 64 colour pages in one run.

He says, “The Uniman 2/2 machine we are currently running was never designed for full process colour and we have out grown it. We will save on runs with our biggest additions, which will be able to be printed in three runs rather than five.

“The new press will also enable us to attract experienced printers to Darwin, to work on the latest technology.”

The new Comet will also print other News Limited titles including The Sunday Territorian, the Northern Territory Business Review, regional editions, pre-prints and the Darwin Sun.

Irwin continues that the new Comet is identical to the presses in Hobart and the Gold Coast, which will reduce engineering, consumables and spare part costs.

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