Syracuse, NY and Albany, NY
October 07, 2009
Eagle Newspapers, Central New York’s award-winning community weeklies and Spotlight Newspapers, the Capital District’s award-winning weeklies were purchased Oct. 1, 2009 by Community Media Group LLC, according to Gary Greene of Cribb, Greene & Associates, who represented Eagle Media in the transaction. The transaction includes the sale of Eagle’s eight weeklies in the Syracuse market, and the seven Spotlight weeklies in the Albany market, as well as numerous niche publications and web sites.
The publications had previously been owned by Eagle Media LP. Terms of the transaction were not disclosed.
Community Media Group LLC is a new company made up of three principals: David B. Tyler Jr. of Syracuse, John A. McIntyre Jr. of Ballston Lake, and Daniel E. Alexander of Elizabethtown. Alexander also is owner of Denton Publications, based in Elizabethtown, and principal owner of New Market Press, based in Vermont.
Tyler will continue in the role of publisher of the weeklies in the Syracuse market, a position he has held for the past eight months. McIntyre will remain in the role of publisher of the Albany group, which he has managed since it was purchased by Eagle Media LP in 1998.
“These newspapers have a strong foundation in the communities they serve, and we believe this new ownership arrangement will allow us to enhance the quality of the editorial product and create efficiencies that weren’t available to us previously,” Tyler said. “Dan Alexander has a long history of running community newspaper companies and his expertise as well as the technological and printing resources Denton Publications bring to the table makes this a win-win.”
“It is very clear that the previous owners had a strong affinity for these newspapers and the employees,” McIntrye said. “When it became apparent that they were prepared to sell, they sought out an arrangement that put the publications and the employees in the best position to succeed. I can’t speak highly enough about the way Eagle Media LP handled this transaction.”
Denton Publications has served as the commercial printer for Eagle Newspapers since April and had been printing the Spotlight Newspapers since 2007. With the change in ownership, Eagle Newspapers will achieve additional production and purchasing efficiencies. “The bottom line is all of our readers and advertisers will reap the benefits generated from the synergies of the new partnership between our publications”, noted Alexander. “We strongly believe in the future of community newspapers. The idea that newspapers….the gathering and distribution of local, community news…. are an obsolete product - is simply wrong. Our industry, like many others, has struggled during this severe recession. Community newspapers and the economy will recover and as that occurs we will be well poised to continue our long history of service,” Alexander went on to say.
“In the current economic landscape, it makes tremendous sense to develop close relationships between organizations like Eagle, Spotlight, New Market and Denton,” Tyler said. “Each publication group will maintain editorial and advertising independence locally while improving our technological infrastructure through the Denton’ production facility. It’s simply the best thing to do for the communities we serve.”
Community Media Group LLC will continue to use the trade names Eagle Newspapers and Spotlight Newspapers and readers can expect the same commitment to community journalism they have become accustomed to over the years.
“This should be a pretty seamless transition for our readers, advertisers and employees,” McIntyre said. “We have a number of excellent journalists in our fold, and this transaction should allow for continued improvement of our community based newspapers.”
Syracuse-area publications owned and operated by Community Media Group LLC:
Weekly newspapers
Baldwinsville Messenger
Cazenovia Republican
Eagle Bulletin (serving Fayetteville, Manlius, DeWitt, Jamesville)
Eagle Observer (serving Camillus, Marcellus, Elbridge)
Madison Eagle (serving Madison County)
Skaneateles Press
Syracuse City Eagle
Star-Review (serving Liverpool, North Syracuse, Cicero, Salina, Clay)
Niche Publications
Syracuse Parent & CNY Family
Prime
Clay Insider
Urban CNY
Mother Knows Best
Central New York Employment Guide
Web properties
www.cnylink.com
www.syracuseparent.net
www.clayinsider.com
www.urbancny.com
www.cnyemploymentguide.com
Capital District publications owned and operated by Community Media Group LLC:
Weekly newspapers
The Spotlight (Delmar, Guilderland)
Colonie Spotlight
Loudonville Spotlight
Niskayuna Spotlight
Rotterdam Spotlight
Scotia-Glenville Spotlight
The Spotlight- Saratoga County (Clifton Park-Halfmoon, Burnt Hills, Malta, Milton and Saratoga Springs)
Niche Publications
Capital District Parent Pages
Capital District Senior Spotlight
Web properties
www.spotlightnews.com
www.cdparentpages.com
www.capitaldistrictyardsale.com
Cribb, Greene & Associates is an eighty-six year old newspaper brokerage company with offices in Virginia and Montana.
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