The Honolulu Star-Advertiser, which will become the largest of Black Press Ltd.'s 150 newspapers, is expected to be a profitable publication with a long-term commitment to Hawaii.

David Black, majority owner of the newspaper, said the company is “;determined to put out a good paper,”; adding that most board members are local, “;and it's important to them that we can do a good job for the community.”;

The Star-Advertiser begins publication tomorrow with a newsroom staff of 117, the largest news-gathering and reporting staff in the state, and larger than the staff of 111 at the Advertiser on May 1.

Advertisers will achieve the second-highest market penetration levels in the nation, behind Wilkes-Barre, Pa., said Dennis Francis, president of the Black subsidiary Oahu Publications Inc. and publisher of the Star-Advertiser.

“;Our penetration will reach over 50 percent of the households,”; Francis said. “;Our full expectation is to be a very healthy, profitable newspaper for many, many years to come.”;

The Star-Advertiser should be profitable immediately, said Rick O'Connor, Black Press' chief operating officer.

Hawaii's isolation makes it attractive for a newspaper, said Black, who bought the Star-Bulletin more than nine years ago and closed on the purchase of the Advertiser last month.

“;You don't have interloping papers, so whatever available revenue is all yours and doesn't get siphoned off,”; Black said.

Despite all the gloom and doom about the print media industry, if there is only one paper in a metro market it will be profitable, said newspaper analyst John Morton. “;It just may not be as profitable as newspapers used to be.”;

Paid circulation for the broadsheet, which will have characteristics of both papers, is expected to reach about 135,000 daily and 150,000 Sunday, Francis said. The Akron (Ohio) Beacon Journal, formerly Black's largest acquisition, has a paid circulation of about 105,000 daily and 134,000 Sunday, he said.

Advertising prices will reflect the Star-Advertiser's broader reach, Francis said, and sponsorships and editorial features are being evaluated.

The preservation of democracy is the role Black identifies as most important to the Star-Advertiser and the handful of other dailies in his chain.

“;I don't know how our version of democracy would work without them,”; he said. “;You need someone reporting on government and bringing the opposition's point of view to the community. The only people that can do that are in the big newsrooms.”;