What Pasadena Star News does

Pasadena Star News is a regional daily newspaper serving Pasadena, California and surrounding San Gabriel Valley communities in Los Angeles County. Its primary audience is local residents seeking hyperlocal news, crime and public safety coverage, local and regional sports (LA professional teams, college sports, World Cup 2026), community events, politics, and opinion. The publication also serves local businesses and advertisers through display, classifieds, obituaries, and branded content.

The product portfolio is built on the WordPress.com VIP content management platform and includes the pasadenastarnews.com website, an e-Edition digital replica of the print newspaper, paid digital and print subscriptions, photo reprints, obituary services, an events calendar, a product reviews section (Best Reviews), and a branded content hub. Trinity Audio provides text-to-speech audio versions of articles, and AccuWeather supplies a weather widget. The publication operates within the Southern California News Group (SCNG) network and is owned by MediaNews Group (Digital First Media).

Revenue is generated through five streams: digital and print subscriptions (recurring), display and classified advertising, branded/sponsored content, and ancillary sales (photo reprints, merchandise via store.dailynews.com). Go-to-market is direct-to-consumer with prominent subscription CTAs on the site and subscriber account management through myaccount.pasadenastarnews.com. The company is private, headquartered in Pasadena, with 1-10 employees, indicating that much of the operational and sales infrastructure is shared across the SCNG portfolio.

Name

Pasadena Star News

Legal name

Pasadena Star News

Website

https://pasadenastarnews.com

Company type

Private

Founded year

1996

Operating status

Operating

Headcount range

1–10 employees

Short description

Pasadena Star News is a community newspaper and digital news platform serving Pasadena and surrounding San Gabriel Valley communities, providing local news, sports, crime coverage, and community information to local residents, with advertising services to local businesses.

Ownership category

akta.pro rank

Product category

Local Newspaper

NAICS

Newspaper Publishers (513110)

SIC

Newspapers: Publishing Or Publishing & Printing (2711)

akta.pro primary industry

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

Keywords

• Local news coverage
• Community journalism
• Regional newspaper
• Digital news subscription
• Local advertising

Headquarters

HQ city

Pasadena

HQ country

United States

HQ region

North America

Offices1 record

Markets served

GTM type

B2C

Offering type

Services

Cost components

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

Revenue model

1. Digital Subscriptions: Revenue from digital-only subscriptions providing access to online content, e-edition, and exclusive SCNG Premium content.
2. Print Subscriptions: Revenue from print newspaper subscriptions delivered to local addresses in Pasadena and surrounding communities.
3. Advertising: Display advertising, classified ads, obituaries, and job listings sold to local businesses and national advertisers targeting the Pasadena/San Gabriel Valley market.
4. Branded Content: Sponsored content, branded content sections, and partner content through Brandpoint and other sponsored content hubs.
5. Photo Reprints and Merchandise: Sale of photo reprints, newspaper archives, and Star-News branded merchandise through the store.dailynews.com platform.

Go-to-market motion1 record

Distribution channels3 records

Marketing channels4 records

Core offering

Pasadena Star News is a regional daily newspaper and digital news platform that delivers hyperlocal news, sports, crime and public safety, politics, business, and community event coverage to residents of Pasadena and surrounding San Gabriel Valley communities in Los Angeles County. The company sells digital and print subscriptions, display and classified advertising, obituaries, branded content, and photo reprints, with its digital edition hosted on the WordPress.com VIP platform and audio articles powered by Trinity Audio.

Product overview

Pasadena Star News is a local news platform operated by Southern California News Group, offering a unified digital platform providing comprehensive local coverage. The core product is the digital news website delivering local news, sports, crime and public safety, politics, health, environment, business, and things to do content. The platform includes an e-Edition digital newspaper replica, digital subscription services, photo reprint purchases, obituary services, events calendar, and Best Reviews product review section. The portfolio is built on WordPress.com VIP with Trinity Audio audio integration for accessibility.

Differentiator

Problem solved

Functional benefit

Products and services

• Pasadena Star News Digital Platform Main news website offering local news, sports, things to do, opinion, and breaking news coverage for residents of Pasadena and surrounding San Gabriel Valley communities including San Marino, Altadena, San Gabriel, Alhambra, Monrovia, Arcadia, Temple City, Monterey Park, South Pasadena, Duarte, Rosemead, Sierra Madre, El Monte, and South El Monte.
• e-Edition Digital Newspaper Digital replica of the printed Pasadena Star News newspaper accessible via enewspaper.pasadenastarnews.com, allowing subscribers to view the full paper digitally page-by-page in a browser-based reading experience.
• Digital Subscription Recurring paid digital subscription providing unlimited access to online news content, exclusive articles, and SCNG Premium content for individual readers in and beyond the Pasadena/San Gabriel Valley coverage area.
• Photo Reprints Service that lets readers purchase reprints of photographs previously published in Pasadena Star News, typically for personal keepsakes, gifts, or memorial use.
• Obituaries Paid obituary placement service (via SCNG Obits) combined with news obituary coverage for community members seeking to publish death notices and remembrance pieces in Pasadena Star News.
• Events Calendar Local events listing service covering Southern California concerts, theater, movies, restaurants, amusement parks, and travel activities relevant to Pasadena and San Gabriel Valley audiences.
• Best Reviews Editorial product review and recommendation section featuring consumer product reviews such as calming products for dogs, jump ropes, beach volleyball sets, and vertical mice, intended for general readers.
• Print Newspaper Home Delivery Subscription Recurring print subscription delivering the Pasadena Star News newspaper to homes and businesses across Pasadena and the surrounding San Gabriel Valley communities.
• Star-News Branded Merchandise Retail offering of Star-News branded merchandise and newspaper archive products sold via the store.dailynews.com ecommerce platform.

Segments2 records

Ideal customer profiles2 records

Technology focussed No

API detail

Has API

No

API docs

API detail

Core technology

AI maturity

App detail

Integration5 records

Feature2 records

Partnerships

Two partnerships are on record, tiered core.

• Southern California News Group (SCNG)coreOthersParent company operating multiple regional newspapers across Southern California. Pasadena Star News is part of the SCNG portfolio which includes Los Angeles Daily News, Orange County Register, Daily Breeze, Press-Telegram, and other regional publications.
• MediaNews GroupcoreOthersParent company (also known as DFM - Digital First Media) that owns Southern California News Group. Manages digital operations and advertising for member newspapers.

Scale indicators1 record

Recent moves1 record

Expansion highlights5 records

Broad incumbents

• Los Angeles Times: Dominant LA-metro daily with significant Pasadena and San Gabriel Valley coverage. Competes for the same regional advertising budgets and subscribers but operates at a much larger scale and broader geographic footprint.

Others

• Nextdoor: Hyperlocal community platform widely used in Pasadena neighborhoods. Indirectly competes for local audience attention and SMB ad spend, and represents both a potential distribution channel and competitive threat for hyperlocal news.

Direct peers

• Orange County Register: Flagship SCNG daily covering Orange County. Direct comparable on subscription model, e-Edition, branded content (Brandpoint), and shared back-office infrastructure, but serves an adjacent Southern California geography.
• San Gabriel Valley Tribune: Historical SCNG publication serving the same San Gabriel Valley region as Pasadena Star News. Direct geographic overlap in Pasadena-adjacent communities, with shared newsroom resources and subscriber base.
• Press-Telegram: SCNG Long Beach-area daily. Direct operational and content-syndication peer, sharing the same digital platform, e-Edition system, and subscription acquisition funnels.
• Los Angeles Daily News: Direct sister publication within Southern California News Group covering the San Fernando Valley and greater LA. Operates on the same WordPress.com VIP platform, shares the SCNG subscription checkout and ad network, making it the closest operational and audience comparable.
• Daily Breeze: SCNG sister paper covering the South Bay region of Los Angeles County. Direct peer on local newspaper operations, subscription bundling and shared SCNG ad platform, with overlapping LA County footprint.

Emerging players

• Patch.com: National hyperlocal digital news network with dedicated Pasadena and San Gabriel Valley pages. Competes for the same hyperlocal audience and local SMB advertising dollars with a lower-cost, community-contributed model.
• LAist: Digital-first LA local news outlet (KPCC/SoCal Public Radio). Competes for hyperlocal LA news audience and younger subscribers with a non-paywall digital model; an emerging threat in the same Pasadena/LA local news market.

Regional players

• La Opinión: LA-metro Spanish-language daily covering local news, politics and community. Comparable as a regional LA local newspaper serving an overlapping but demographically distinct audience and ad market.

Market position

Strengths4 records

Weaknesses4 records

Competitive moat3 records

Key risks5 records

Key highlights5 records

Customer concentration

• Xx.com/PasStarNews
• Facebookfacebook.com/pasadenastarnews
• LinkedInlinkedin.com/company/pasadena-star-news

Revenue estimate

Valuation estimate

Number of profiles

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 Pasadena Star News