Southern California News Group

What Southern California News Group does

Southern California News Group (SCNG) is a privately held regional newspaper network that operates 11 daily publications across the five-county Los Angeles Metro area—Los Angeles, Orange, Riverside, San Bernardino, and San Diego counties—reaching approximately 6.2 million readers per week through print, online, and mobile platforms. The network is wholly owned by MediaNews Group, Inc. and consolidates legacy mastheads including the Los Angeles Daily News, Orange County Register, Press-Enterprise, San Bernardino Sun, Daily Breeze, San Gabriel Valley Tribune, Press-Telegram, Pasadena Star-News, Redlands Daily Facts, Whittier Daily News, Daily Bulletin, and the San Diego Union-Tribune. SCNG's roots trace to publications established in the late 1800s, with the SCNG brand formally consolidated in 2017.

The company's product surface spans a multi-platform publishing network and an advertising solutions stack. Core publications are distributed via print, associated websites, social channels, e-Edition digital replicas, and email newsletters. Advertising offerings include digital solutions (programmatic, Connected TV, Digital Out-of-Home, social, and display), in-home advertising (direct mail and newspaper inserts), content marketing (video production, photography, branded storytelling), email newsletter marketing, creative services (design and copywriting), classifieds marketplace, and public notices for legally required governmental and legal advertising. The company also operates a Reader Rewards subscriber loyalty program and local/virtual event offerings.

SCNG's business model is advertising-led, generating revenue through digital and print ad placements, content marketing services, creative services, classifieds, and public notices. Go-to-market is sales-led, combining a direct field sales team for enterprise accounts and political campaigns with an inside sales function for mid-market and SMB advertisers. Customer segments span local SMBs and political campaigns as primary verticals, with healthcare providers, travel and tourism organizations, education institutions (specifically public school districts), and senior living communities as secondary verticals. Pricing is quote-based and customized per campaign, with no standardized public tiers. The firm is headquartered in Woodland Hills/Los Angeles and employs between 1,001 and 5,000 people.

Name

Southern California News Group

Legal name

MediaNews Group, Inc.

Website

https://socalnewsgroup.com

Company type

Private

Founded year

1800

Operating status

Operating

Headcount range

1,001–5,000 employees

Short description

Southern California News Group operates 11 daily newspapers across Southern California's five-county Los Angeles Metro area, reaching 6.2 million weekly readers. The MediaNews Group subsidiary sells digital, print, CTV, and DOOH advertising to local businesses, political campaigns, and vertical advertisers.

Ownership category

akta.pro rank

Product category

Local Newspaper Advertising

NAICS

Newspaper Publishers (513110), Newspaper, Periodical, Book, and Directory Publishers (5131)

SIC

Newspapers: Publishing Or Publishing & Printing (2711)

akta.pro primary industry

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

akta.pro secondary industries

Publishing Networks & Multi-Author Publications (MPACAIAG), Syndication, Licensing & Content Partnerships (Columns, Features, Photos) (MPAJADAI)

Keywords

• Local newspaper advertising
• Digital advertising solutions
• Multi-platform news network
• Print media publishing
• Content marketing services

Headquarters

HQ city

Woodland Hills

HQ country

United States

HQ region

North America

Offices4 records

Markets served

GTM type

B2B

Offering type

Services

Cost components

Personnel, Operations, Marketing or Sales, Technology or R&D, Infrastructure

Revenue model

1. Digital Advertising: Revenue from digital ad placements across websites, mobile platforms, programmatic advertising, connected TV, and digital out-of-home (DOOH) advertising solutions.
2. Print Advertising: Revenue from traditional print newspaper advertising across their 11 local daily publications serving Southern California communities.
3. Content Marketing Services: Custom content creation services including video production, photography, and branded content development for advertisers.
4. Email Newsletter Marketing: Sponsored newsletter placements and email marketing services targeting their engaged subscriber base.
5. Creative Services: Design and creative production services for advertising campaigns including senior living marketing.
6. Classifieds and Public Notices: Revenue from classified advertisements and legally required public notice publications.

Go-to-market motion1 record

Distribution channels3 records

Marketing channels7 records

Core offering

Southern California News Group (SCNG) operates a network of 11+ local daily publications across the five-county Los Angeles Metro area, reaching over 6.2 million readers weekly through print, online, and mobile platforms. The company sells multi-platform advertising solutions (digital, programmatic, DOOH, CTV, print, email newsletter, in-home) and provides content marketing, creative services, and public notice publishing to advertisers seeking Southern California audiences.

Product overview

Southern California News Group (SCNG) operates as a media network offering a platform-plus-services architecture. The core product is its network of 11+ local daily publications (including Los Angeles Daily News, Orange County Register, Press-Telegram, Pasadena Star-News, and others) serving the five-county Los Angeles Metro area. These publications are distributed across print, online, and mobile platforms, reaching 6.2 million weekly readers. Supporting the publication network are advertising solutions including Digital Advertising (programmatic, CTV, social), Content Marketing (video, photography, branded content), In-Home Advertising, Email Newsletter Marketing, and Creative Services. Additional subscriber offerings include e-Edition digital replicas, Reader Rewards loyalty programs, and Events (virtual and local). The company generates revenue primarily through advertising while providing journalism services to communities across Los Angeles, Orange, Riverside, and San Bernardino counties.

Differentiator

Problem solved

Functional benefit

Brands

• SCNG: Southern California News Group's primary brand identity for its multi-platform news network

Products and services

• Digital Advertising Solutions

Quantifiable outcome

• 6.2 million weekly readers across all platforms
• +3 more outcomes

Segments5 records

Ideal customer profiles5 records

Technology focussed No

API detail

Has API

No

API docs

API detail

Core technology

AI maturity

App detail

Feature1 record

Partnerships

Two partnerships are on record, tiered core and major.

• MediaNews Group, Inc.coreOthersParent company of Southern California News Group. SCNG operates as a subsidiary under MediaNews Group, sharing corporate resources, privacy policies, and branding. Copyright notice identifies MediaNews Group, Inc. as the parent entity.
• San Diego Union-TribunemajorChannel Partner/ Reseller/ DistributorAffiliated publication featured in SCNG's publication network, extending reach to San Diego County markets. Listed as part of SCNG's publication portfolio alongside major Southern California daily newspapers.

Scale indicators5 records

Recent moves5 records

Expansion highlights5 records

Direct peers

• Gannett: Gannett is the largest U.S. newspaper publisher (USA Today network plus 200+ local dailies), operating the same multi-publication local news and advertising model as SCNG and serving as the closest national scale comparable.
• Lee Enterprises: Lee Enterprises operates a large portfolio of local daily newspapers across mid-size U.S. markets, with the same print + digital advertising business model and similar reliance on local political and SMB ad budgets as SCNG.
• McClatchy: McClatchy publishes regional daily newspapers including the Sacramento Bee and Miami Herald, sharing SCNG's regional newspaper + digital advertising + content marketing model and target customer base of local advertisers.
• Advance Publications: Advance Publications owns Condé Nast and a large portfolio of local newspapers through Advance Local, sharing SCNG's combination of local news publishing and digital advertising monetization.
• Hearst Newspapers: Hearst Newspapers operates a portfolio of large-metro daily newspapers (e.g., Houston Chronicle, San Francisco Chronicle) with the same print/digital advertising and content marketing services architecture as SCNG.
• Tribune Publishing: Tribune Publishing operates major metro dailies (Chicago Tribune, New York Daily News) with a directly comparable print + digital subscription and advertising business model; notably, Tribune was acquired by Alden Global Capital, the same owner as MediaNews Group (SCNG's parent).

Broad incumbents

• The New York Times Company: NYT Co. operates The New York Times and ancillary digital products (Wirecutter, The Athletic) with a broader national/international subscription-led model; relevant as a large-scale newspaper publisher that has successfully pivoted to digital subscriptions.
• News Corp: News Corp owns The Wall Street Journal, New York Post, and a portfolio of newspapers in the U.S., U.K., and Australia, competing broadly with SCNG in the print + digital newspaper advertising market but at global scale.

Emerging players

• Axios Media: Axios operates a digital-first local and national news network built around newsletters and Smart Brevity, overlapping with SCNG's digital newsletter advertising and content marketing offerings for local advertisers.
• Patch Media: Patch operates a digital-only hyperlocal news network covering thousands of U.S. communities, competing with SCNG's local news positioning and selling local digital advertising to SMBs and political campaigns.

Market position

Strengths1 record

Weaknesses1 record

Competitive moat4 records

Key highlights6 records

Customer concentration

• Xx.com/socalnewsgroup
• Facebookfacebook.com/socalnewsgroup
• LinkedInlinkedin.com/company/southern-california-news-group
• Instagraminstagram.com/socalnewsgroup

Revenue estimate

Valuation estimate

Number of profiles

Subsidiaries12 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 Southern California News Group