In brief:
Valassis answers probe :
The FTC refused to comment Tuesday, but Valassis said the agency is looking into whether it and its key rival, News America Marketing, colluded to set prices and divide up customers in the market for the colorful ads and coupons inserted into Sunday newspapers, a product known as free-standing inserts, or FSI.
Valassis pioneered the Sunday inserts industry and for a time was by far the major player in the market. FSI revenues made up 47 percent of Valassis' 2004 revenues. But in recent years News America Marketing, a subsidiary of News Corp., the giant media company founded by mogul Rupert Murdoch, has battled Valassis for dominance of the FSI market. Valassis has about a 46-percent market share, News America about 54 percent.
