Mediaforce, the independent regional sales house, is the incumbent and has overseen the advertising sales for Northcliffe titles, including the Nottingham Evening Post and the Hull Daily Mail, since 2008.
It is unclear who is pitching for the account, but it is likely that Mediaforce will be invited to repitch.
The review of Northcliffe's operations is being led by
Prior to his surprise recent switch to Northcliffe, Auckland headed up DMGT'S free morning newspaper Metro for eight years and, during the period, turned it into a profitable title.
Auckland is now undertaking a full review of Northcliffe, which, it has long been rumoured, could be sold off or merged with a rival newspaper group.
It is thought the review could lead to closures of titles and changing publishing dates of publications.
Northcliffe Media, like rival regional newspaper groups, has struggled to offset a difficult advertising market and has axed more than 1,000 jobs within the past three years.
According to DMGT's most recent annual financial results, Northcliffe reported revenue of £328m, down 10%, and operating profit of £30m, up 24%, in the year to October 2010.
Mediaforce represents titles including Johnston Press-owned Yorkshire Evening Post and The Scotsman.
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