According to reports on Reuters, the newspaper, owned by Chicago-based Tribune Company, has been linked with rolling out a free tabloid edition to target the commuter market, according to David Hiller, publisher of The LA Times.
Hiller said the Jim O'Shea-edited broadsheet plans to launch a free commuter edition similar to the Chicago Tribune's sister title RedEye, which is given away at commuter stations across Chicago.
Hiller's remarks were made during a business meeting in Los Angeles yesterday, and would put the LA Times in the same US freesheet market as Chicago Tribune's Redeye, The Washington Post and Palo Alto Daily News, which all have free editions.
The US freesheet market is viewed as a lucrative one for advertisers. Following the 2002 launch of RedEye, an estimated 600,000 additional daily readers were added to the Chicago Tribune's readership; many of which are in the 18 to 30 age group. In New York, there is amNew York and Metro New York.
Freesheet newspaper firm Metro also publishes editions in Boston and Philadelphia.
The LA Times edged closer to a buyout by US billionaire Sam Zeller last month, after an overwhelming majority of shareholders backed his bid for the newspaper's parent company, Tribune Corporation, which owns 11 daily newspapers and 23 TV stations.
Zell, now the largest shareholder in Tribune Corporation with an $8.2bn (£4.2bn) stake, held off fierce competition from business tycoons Eli Broad and Ron Burkle in order to secure a majority share in the business.
However, despite Zell's strong backing from shareholders, his bid to formally take over Tribune Corporation faces a tough challenge from the Federal Communications Commission, which would need to waive current rules banning US media owners from owning too many assets in the same market.
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