Denver billionaire Philip Anschutz, considered a potential buyer of The Denver Post, is floating the idea of reviving the defunct Rocky Mountain News.

The Denver-based newspaper closed in 2009 after nearly 150 years of publication, a victim of the newspaper war with the Post.

Anschutz’s Clarity Media Group has prepared a prototype of the Rocky and is gauging market reaction to assess the viability of publishing the tabloid newspaper.

Clarity president Ryan McKibben said the market research focuses on “bringing it back as a seven-day-a-week, full-service newspaper.” He said there is no timeline for making a decision.

Denver Post publisher Mac Tully said, “We’re going to continue to do what we do — which is award-winning journalism — and wish them the best of luck.”

Clarity’s holdings include the The Gazette in Colorado Springs, the Washington Examiner, the Weekly Standard and Red Alert Politics. Through a separate company, Anschutz publishes The Oklahoman in Oklahoma City.

Analysts have identified Anschutz as a potential buyer for the Post and a cluster of 13 other papers in Colorado that were placed on the market earlier this year as parent company Digital First Media began to pursue “strategic alternatives.”

Cincinnati-based media company E.W. Scripps had attempted to sell the Rocky in December 2008, but no qualified buyers surfaced. Scripps closed the paper after reporting that the publication lost $16 million in 2008.