New paper launched in D.C.; is Houston next?

Conservative billionaire Philip Anschutz has launched a free daily newspaper in the Washington, D.C. area:

The Washington Examiner will cater to people with limited time to read a newspaper, said Ryan McKibben, president of Denver-based Clarity Media Group. It will use a tabloid format with shorter stories, and emphasize community news along with national and international coverage. "Everybody in the information business is competing for the same thing we are, which is time for any potential reader," McKibben said. The move comes less than a year after Anschutz bought the once-storied San Francisco Examiner in hopes of bringing it back as a free tabloid. The paper lost money for years and eventually its readers to the larger San Francisco Chronicle and suburban rivals.

The paper is available online at dcexaminer.com, which is registered to The Anschutz Corporation in Denver. Interestingly, the same corporation owns houstonexaminer.com. Could a new rag for Houston be in the works? Maybe so:

According to the Denver Post, Anchsutz has filed 127 U.S. applications to trademark general circulation newspapers with "The Examiner" name in 69 cities, including Denver. His paper said Anschutz's Clarity Media Group has spent tens of thousands of dollars on the applications, based on the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office's $335 filing fee. Among the areas where Clarity sought trademarks include Long Island; Des Moines; Detroit; Kansas City, Mo.; New Orleans; Phoenix; Salt Lake City and Boston.

He also registered the name in Austin, Dallas, Fort Worth and San Antonio.