The Philadelphia Journal was a tabloid published from December 5, 1977 until December 15, 1981; barely a month after the Journal's demise, the Philadelphia Bulletin also ceased publication, leaving the city with only one newspaper owner and two titles—The Philadelphia Inquirer and the Philadelphia Daily News.
According to an obituary for owner Pierre Peladeau in the New York Times, the venture lost $14 million. A United Press International article, published when the tabloid ceased publication, cited its circulation at that time as 105,000. Jacques Beauchamp was the initial editor and said that the paper devoted 25-26 pages in each edition to sports; the paper typically ran to about 60 pages total.
According to the Associated Press wire service, the end came when unions rejected management's demand to save $3 million annually by laying off 43 of the 157 employees and wage concessions. Quebecor, the paper's owner, intended to convert the tabloid to an all-sports format if the savings were realized.
Originally, Peledeau told Time Magazine he hoped to expand his sensationalist, sports-oriented paper to other cities, such as Atlanta, Boston, Detroit and Los Angeles but none of this came about.