The Billings Gazette

What The Billings Gazette does

The Billings Gazette is a regional daily newspaper founded in 1885 and headquartered at 401 N Broadway, Billings, Montana, serving Billings, Yellowstone County, and the surrounding south-central Montana region. It operates as a strategic subsidiary of Lee Enterprises, Incorporated (NASDAQ: LEE), a publicly traded Delaware corporation headquartered in Davenport, Iowa, with David Hoffmann through Hoffmann Media Group identified as the majority shareholder of the parent. The publication prints Tuesday through Sunday and maintains a continuous digital presence via billingsgazette.com, native iOS/Android mobile apps, and an E-edition digital replica.

The company's product portfolio is built on the BLOX Content Management System from Blox Digital (bloxdigital.com) and spans tiered subscriptions (Digital Only, Digital+Print, and the News+ ad-free add-on), an E-edition, email newsletters, mobile applications, a classifieds marketplace (jobs, real estate, vehicles, buy-and-sell), obituary services, legal and public notices, an event calendar, Puzzmo puzzles, podcasts (including The Ethical Life), and Brand Ave. Studios branded content. The website also exposes an AI Answers search feature alongside standard site search.

The Billings Gazette's business model is a hybrid of consumer subscription revenue (auto-renewing digital and print bundles) and advertising — display, classified, and sponsored branded content — supplemented by transaction-based obituary and legal notice services, content licensing fees (administered at the parent level via lee.net), and marketplace/affiliate commerce partnerships. Distribution is multi-channel: print home delivery within designated Billings zones, self-serve digital subscriptions, mobile apps, E-edition, social platforms (Facebook, Twitter/X, Bluesky, YouTube, Instagram), email newsletters, and Google DoubleClick-mediated programmatic advertising. The gazette serves two primary customer segments: local Montana residents seeking community, government, weather, sports, and obituary information, and local/regional advertisers seeking access to the Billings consumer market.

Name

The Billings Gazette

Legal name

Lee Enterprises, Incorporated

Website

https://billingsgazette.com

Company type

Private

Founded year

1885

Operating status

Operating

Headcount range

1–10 employees

Short description

The Billings Gazette is a regional daily newspaper founded in 1885 in Billings, Montana, owned by Lee Enterprises, serving local residents with print (Tue–Sun), digital subscriptions, mobile apps, and E-edition, and monetizing through subscriptions, advertising, classifieds, legal notices, obituaries, and content licensing.

Ownership category

akta.pro rank

Product category

Local Newspaper Publishing

NAICS

Newspaper Publishers (513110), Newspaper Publishers (51311)

SIC

Newspapers: Publishing Or Publishing & Printing (2711)

akta.pro primary industry

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

akta.pro secondary industries

Syndication, Licensing & Content Partnerships (Columns, Features, Photos) (MPAJADAI), Subscription & Fulfillment Services (Print & Digital) (MPAJAKAB)

Keywords

• Local newspaper publishing
• Digital news subscription
• Classified advertising marketplace
• Print home delivery
• Community journalism

Headquarters

HQ city

Billings

HQ country

United States

HQ region

North America

Offices1 record

Markets served

GTM type

B2C

Offering type

Services

Cost components

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

Revenue model

1. Subscription Revenue: Digital Only and Digital+Print subscriptions with auto-renewal. Includes News+ ad-free tier. Subscription prices include applicable sales tax with delivery charges for print subscribers.
2. Print and Display Advertising: Display advertising on website and in print edition, including branded content through Brand Ave. Studios
3. Classified Advertising: Employment, garage sale, vehicle, real estate classified ads, and legal public notices
4. Content Licensing: Licensing fees charged for reuse of newspaper content including text, photographs, graphics, and video. Calculated based on various factors and requires written request.
5. Marketplace/Commerce: I Love A Deal marketplace, Jobs board, Shopping sections, and affiliate commerce partnerships
6. Obituary Services: Obituary publishing and related services

Pricing tiers

Go-to-market motion1 record

Distribution channels6 records

Marketing channels10 records

Core offering

The Billings Gazette publishes a daily local newspaper and continuous digital news service for Billings, Montana, and the surrounding region, distributed through print home delivery, a website, mobile apps, an e-edition, and email newsletters. It sells consumer subscriptions (Print, Digital, Digital + Print, and News+ tiers), display and classified advertising, sponsored Brand Ave. Studios content, obituary services, and legal/public notice publication, supported by a Classifieds and Marketplace online listings platform.

Product overview

The Billings Gazette is a traditional newspaper publication owned by Lee Enterprises, operating primarily from Billings, Montana. The company's product portfolio centers on its print newspaper (published Tuesday through Sunday, with print delivery for Digital+Print subscribers) supplemented by a comprehensive digital platform. The core digital products include the billingsgazette.com website offering unlimited digital access, premium News+ subscriptions providing ad-free experiences, and an E-edition digital replica of the print edition. Supporting digital products include mobile applications, email newsletters with customizable topics and frequency, a classifieds marketplace (Jobs, Buy & Sell, Vehicles, Real Estate), obituary services, legal notices, event calendar, puzzles (Puzzmo), and podcast content. The products are offered primarily through tiered subscription models (Digital Only, Digital+Print, with News+ as an ad-free premium upgrade), supported by advertising revenue across both digital and print platforms.

Differentiator

Problem solved

Functional benefit

Products and services

• Print Only Subscription

Segments2 records

Ideal customer profiles3 records

Technology focussed No

API detail

Has API

No

API docs

API detail

Core technology

AI maturity

App detail

Feature3 records

Partnerships

Two partnerships are on record, tiered core.

• Lee Enterprises, IncorporatedcoreOthersBillings Gazette is owned and operated by Lee Enterprises, a Delaware corporation headquartered in Davenport, Iowa. Lee Enterprises owns multiple newspaper properties across the United States. Majority shareholder is David Hoffmann through Hoffmann Media Group.
• Bloxdigital.com (BLOX CMS)coreTechnology or IntegrationBLOX Content Management System from bloxdigital.com powers the Billings Gazette website, providing templates, theming, and content management infrastructure.

Scale indicators1 record

Recent moves6 records

Expansion highlights6 records

Direct peers

• Missoulian: Western Montana daily newspaper also owned by Lee Enterprises, serving Missoula and the surrounding region with a comparable local news, sports, and advertising model. Directly comparable as a Lee-owned Montana regional paper with the same BLOX CMS and subscription architecture.
• Great Falls Tribune: Another Lee Enterprises-owned Montana daily covering Great Falls and north-central Montana. Same corporate parent, same technology stack, and overlapping coverage of state government, high school sports, and local classifieds — making it a closely matched operational peer.
• Helena Independent Record: State-capital daily newspaper operated by Lee Enterprises, providing intensive coverage of Montana government and politics that complements the Gazette's coverage. Comparable in business model, technology platform, and Montana geographic focus.
• Bozeman Daily Chronicle: Independent (non-Lee) daily newspaper serving Bozeman, Montana — the closest geographic competitor to the Gazette for Montana state news, sports, and classifieds. Comparable in audience profile and subscription model but operates outside the Lee Enterprises network.
• Ravalli Republic: Lee Enterprises community newspaper in Hamilton, Montana covering the Bitterroot Valley. Comparable as a Lee-owned Montana local paper using BLOX CMS, though smaller in scale and geographic scope than the Billings Gazette.

Regional players

• Casper Star-Tribune: Wyoming's largest daily newspaper serving Casper and the surrounding region. Comparable as a regional Mountain West daily covering energy, agriculture, and state politics, with a similar subscription and advertising model, though operating in a different state.
• Rapid City Journal: South Dakota daily newspaper covering the Black Hills region. Comparable in scale and audience to a Montana market daily, with similar local government, tourism, and outdoor recreation coverage, though operating in an adjacent state rather than direct Montana overlap.
• Bismarck Tribune: North Dakota daily newspaper serving the Bismarck-Mandan area with comparable subscription, advertising, and digital offerings. Comparable in market profile and rural-state media dynamics, though in a different regional geography.

Broad incumbents

• Gannett LocaliQ: Digital marketing services arm of Gannett, the largest U.S. newspaper chain. Comparable as a competing platform for local advertiser spend in the Billings market, though it operates across the entire USA Today network rather than specializing in Montana.
• Lee Enterprises (corporate): The parent company of the Billings Gazette, operating approximately 70+ daily newspapers across the United States. Comparable as the broader corporate entity whose strategy, technology choices, and financial health directly determine the Gazette's trajectory.

Market position

Strengths1 record

Weaknesses5 records

Competitive moat5 records

Key risks6 records

Key highlights6 records

Customer concentration

• Xx.com/billingsgazette
• YouTubebillingsgazette.com/youtube
• Facebookfacebook.com/109532795732311
• Instagrambillingsgazette.com/instagram
• LinkedInlinkedin.com/company/billings-gazette-communications

Revenue estimate

Valuation estimate

Number of profiles

Profiles1 record

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 Billings Gazette