The McClatchy Company today announced plans to expand a coupons-only programme it has yet to launch in actual practice.

The programme, called Sunday Select, which is slated to start November 15, entails directly mailing printed promotional materials to households in postal codes advertisers want to reach. The materials are virtually identical to those a newspaper subscriber would receive but are wrapped in an editorial broadsheet as opposed to the publisher's entire publication. Sunday Select differs from "junk mail" in that prospective recipients must sign up for the package of circulars or "opt in" in order to receive them.

McClatchy's inaugural markets are Sacramento, California; Kansas City, Missouri; Tacoma, Washington; and Columbia, South Carolina. The markets to be added on February 28, 2010 are Modesto, California; Forth Worth, Texas; Wichita, Kansas; Lexington, Kentucky; and Myrtle Beach, South Carolina, the Sacramento Business Journal reported today.

According to Editor & Publisher, the Sunday Select programme was developed by Gannett. It also will be adopted by Tribune and MediaGroup over the course of the next six months.