The Buffalo News

What The Buffalo News does

The Buffalo News is a regional daily newspaper founded in 1877 in Buffalo, New York, serving as the primary local news source for Western New York including Buffalo, Erie County, and Niagara Falls. It is owned and operated by Lee Enterprises (NASDAQ: LEE), a publicly traded media company headquartered in Davenport, Iowa, which acquired the publication in 2018 as part of its purchase of Berkshire Hathaway's newspaper assets. The publication operates from its headquarters at 726 Exchange St. in Buffalo with 501-1,000 employees, delivering comprehensive coverage of local news, sports (Buffalo Bills, Sabres, college and high school), business, politics, opinion, obituaries, and lifestyle content through multiple sub-brands including Buffalo Magazine, BN Home, Wellness WNY, and Best of 716.

The company distributes content across a multi-channel platform including print newspaper delivery, a website (buffalonews.com), native iOS and Android mobile applications, an e-edition digital replica, email newsletters (e.g., Good Morning Buffalo), podcasts (including The Ethical Life), and social media (Facebook, X/Twitter, Bluesky, YouTube). The underlying technology infrastructure is the BLOX Content Management System from TownNews (bloxdigital.com), which handles content delivery, subscription management, advertising, and multimedia. The company also operates Brand Ave. Studios for branded/sponsored content and integrates with Legacy.com for obituary services.

Revenue is generated through two primary streams: recurring digital and print subscriptions (including e-edition access, mobile apps, and newsletters) and advertising (display, classifieds, print ads, and digital advertising). The customer base is the Western New York general public, segmented geographically, with a B2C go-to-market targeting local residents seeking hyperlocal journalism, community information, sports coverage, and cultural content. Specific subscription pricing is not publicly disclosed. Revenue figures are not reported separately; Lee Enterprises reported consolidated FY2024 total revenues of $749.5 million across its entire newspaper portfolio.

Name

The Buffalo News

Legal name

The Buffalo News

Website

https://buffalonews.com

Company type

Private

Founded year

1877

Operating status

Operating

Headcount range

501–1,000 employees

Short description

The Buffalo News is a regional daily newspaper founded in 1877 serving Buffalo and Western New York with comprehensive local news, sports, and community coverage. Owned by Lee Enterprises since 2018, it distributes content across print, web, mobile apps, e-edition, newsletters, and podcasts, monetizing via subscriptions and advertising.

Ownership category

akta.pro rank

Product category

Local Newspaper

NAICS

Newspaper Publishers (513110), Newspaper Publishers (51311)

SIC

Newspapers: Publishing Or Publishing & Printing (2711)

akta.pro primary industry

Local & Regional Newspapers (Print & Digital) (MPAJADAB)

Keywords

• Local newspaper
• Regional news coverage
• Digital news subscription
• Breaking news alerts
• Community journalism

Headquarters

HQ city

Buffalo

HQ country

United States

HQ region

North America

Offices1 record

Markets served

GTM type

B2C

Offering type

Digital Commerce or Content

Cost components

Personnel, Operations, Technology or R&D, Marketing or Sales, Supply Chain

Revenue model

1. Subscription Revenue: Digital and print subscriptions including e-edition access, mobile apps, and newsletters
2. Advertising: Display advertising, classifieds, print ads, and digital advertising across the platform

Distribution channels4 records

Marketing channels5 records

Core offering

The Buffalo News is a regional daily newspaper serving Buffalo, NY, Erie County, and the broader Western New York region. Its core offering is comprehensive local journalism covering local news, weather, sports (Buffalo Bills, Sabres, college, high school), politics, business, opinion/editorial content, obituaries, and lifestyle/entertainment. The publication distributes this content through print newspaper delivery, a website (buffalonews.com), mobile applications, an e-edition digital replica, email newsletters, and podcasts.

Product overview

The Buffalo News is a regional daily newspaper serving Buffalo, NY, and Erie County. The company's core offering is its newspaper content, which includes local news, sports (Bills, Sabres, high school, college), opinion/editorial, obituaries, and lifestyle/entertainment coverage. Digital distribution includes a website, mobile apps, e-edition (digital replica of the print newspaper), and email newsletters. The company also operates Brand Ave. Studios for branded/sponsored content, a jobs marketplace, marketplace/classifieds, and special sections such as Buffalo Magazine, Wellness WNY, and Best of 716. The newspaper is owned by Lee Enterprises and is powered by the BLOX Content Management System from TownNews.

Differentiator

Problem solved

Functional benefit

Brands

• Buffalo Magazine: A special sections magazine publication covering local lifestyle, culture, and community features.
• BN Home
• Wellness WNY
• Best of 716

Products and services

• Print Newspaper Subscription
• Digital Subscription
• E-edition (Digital Replica)
• Buffalo News Mobile Apps

Segments1 record

Ideal customer profiles2 records

Technology focussed No

API detail

Has API

No

API docs

API detail

Core technology

AI maturity

App detail

Partnerships

Two partnerships are on record, tiered core.

• Lee EnterprisescoreStrategic or Co-development PartnerThe Buffalo News is owned and operated by Lee Enterprises, a national newspaper company. Lee Enterprises provides corporate infrastructure, advertising technology, and content management systems (BLOX CMS) for the publication.
• TownNews (bloxdigital.com)coreTechnology or IntegrationProvides the BLOX Content Management System powering buffalonews.com, including subscription management, advertising, and multimedia delivery infrastructure

Recent moves6 records

Expansion highlights5 records

Direct peers

• Democrat and Chronicle: Rochester, NY regional daily also owned by Lee Enterprises and built on the same BLOX CMS / subscription stack — a near-twin operating model covering an upstate New York market.
• St. Louis Post-Dispatch: Lee Enterprises-owned regional daily; another large-market legacy newspaper in the same chain, sharing corporate infrastructure, ad tech, and digital subscription platform.
• The Plain Dealer: Cleveland regional daily (now operating under cleveland.com), a comparable Rust Belt metro legacy newspaper transitioning to a digital subscription model.
• The Columbus Dispatch: Mid-size Midwest regional daily with a similar mix of print legacy and digital subscription growth; a directly comparable single-market daily news business.
• Pittsburgh Post-Gazette: Independent regional daily covering the Pittsburgh metro — a like-for-like legacy print/digital newspaper competing for advertiser and reader attention in a Rust Belt market.

Broad incumbents

• The Tennessean (Nashville): Part of the Gannett/USA TODAY Network — a larger chain-owned regional daily covering a comparable U.S. metro with the same multi-channel subscription-and-advertising model.
• The Indianapolis Star: Gannett-owned Midwest regional daily with similar size, sports verticals (Colts, Pacers), and digital subscription/print hybrid model — a chain-sibling benchmark.
• The Boston Globe: Major U.S. regional daily with a similar digital subscription and advertising strategy, but operating at a larger scale and broader geographic reach — useful benchmark for premium subscription pricing.
• The Dallas Morning News: Large Southwest regional daily with active digital subscription growth, sports verticals (Cowboys, Mavericks), and sub-brand special sections — analogous multi-product portfolio structure.

Others

• TownNews (Gannett/Tribune-aligned CMS vendor): Provider of the BLOX content management system that powers buffalonews.com and many other U.S. local newspapers; an enabling technology peer rather than a competitor, but the common infrastructure means shared feature trajectory across the local-news category.

Market position

Strengths4 records

Weaknesses4 records

Competitive moat4 records

Key risks6 records

Key highlights7 records

Customer concentration

• Xx.com/TheBuffaloNews
• YouTubeyoutube.com/channel/UCxnT6c8_hQ
• Facebookfacebook.com/TheBuffaloNews
• LinkedInlinkedin.com/company/21188

Revenue estimate

Valuation estimate

Number of profiles

Profiles2 records

Funding overview

Funding rounds

Investors

Funding detail is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

M&A

Investments

M&A and investment is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

Frequently asked questions about The Buffalo News