What Creative Circle Advertising Solutions does

Creative Circle Media Solutions (formerly Creative Circle Advertising Solutions) is a privately held, founder-owned media technology and services firm founded in 1984 and headquartered at 945 Waterman Avenue, East Providence, Rhode Island. The company builds and supports software plus design and consulting services for newspaper, magazine, association and adjacent media publishers, with a stated base of more than 100 customers across the United States and Bermuda, 750+ print publication redesigns and 650+ media-related websites built over its 30+ year history.

The core platform consists of mediasiteQ, a web content management system; newsroomQ, a print production CMS that integrates with both Quark and InDesign; paywallQ, an integrated digital paywall; Premium Pages for premium content monetization; QuickAds for advertising management; and NativeNewsQ for native advertising. These are complemented by standalone apps such as Honor My Grad (launched March 2020) and What's Open (2020), plus service lines covering print redesign, creative outsourcing, training workshops and strategic consulting. The architecture is described as a CMS-plus-modules stack with templates and workflows tuned specifically to small- and mid-market newspaper and magazine production.

Revenue is generated through a mix of flat-rate software/CMS subscriptions with bundled hosting, consulting and training; one-time setup fees plus revenue-share app licensing (e.g., the $150 Honor My Grad setup fee); transaction-fee upsells on consumer-facing features; and project-based professional services for print redesigns, creative outsourcing and consulting. Go-to-market is sales-led, with a VP of Sales and a National Sales Director added in 2022 and 2023 respectively, supported by participation in industry conferences (ACP, NNA, Niche Media) and a free-demo motion on the company website. The firm remains privately held by founder and president Bill Ostendorf, with no disclosed institutional funding beyond a 2009 $155,000 round, and operates with a small team (reported as 1-10 employees on third-party listings) that roughly doubled in the second half of 2022 to support a web CMS client base growing approximately 25% per year.

Name

Creative Circle Advertising Solutions

Legal name

Creative Circle Media Solutions

Website

https://creativecirclemedia.com

Company type

Private

Founded year

1984

Operating status

Operating

Headcount range

1–10 employees

Short description

Creative Circle Media Solutions is a founder-owned East Providence software and services firm, founded 1984, that builds CMS, paywall and redesign tools plus consulting services for newspaper, magazine and association publishers across the U.S.

Ownership category

akta.pro rank

Product category

Media Publishing Software

NAICS

Software Publishers (513210), Custom Computer Programming Services (541511), Graphic Design Services (541430), Computing Infrastructure Providers, Data Processing, Web Hosting, and Related Services (5182)

SIC

Services-Prepackaged Software (7372), Services-Computer Programming, Data Processing, Etc. (7370), Services-Mailing, Reproduction, Commercial Art & Photography (7330)

akta.pro primary industry

Digital Newsroom/CMS Platforms for Publishers (MPACAIAH)

akta.pro secondary industries

Digital Magazine & Newspaper Subscription Platforms (Paywalls, Membership) (MPAJAMAD), Digital Publishing Platforms (News/Magazines) (BPAMAJAE), White-Label/Hosted Publishing Platforms (MPACAIAJ), Content Studio & Creative Resourcing (In-house/Embedded Teams) (BPAFAIAJ)

Keywords

• Newspaper publishing software
• Media content management
• Print production CMS
• Newspaper redesign services
• Digital paywall solutions

Headquarters

HQ city

East Providence

HQ country

United States

HQ region

North America

Offices1 record

Markets served

GTM type

B2B

Offering type

Software

Cost components

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

Revenue model

1. Software/CMS Subscriptions: Web CMS hosting and support with flat-rate pricing model. Includes consulting and training as part of hosting and support packages.
2. App Licensing: One-time setup fee ($150) plus revenue share for apps like Honor My Grad; Creative Circle hosts listings for one year
3. Premium/Upsell Services: Parents can pay for upgrades on apps including video, photo galleries, and print publication options
4. Creative Outsourcing: Design and production services for publications, including vacation relief and emergency staffing help
5. Consulting and Training: Training workshops, consulting services for editorial, design, and business operations
6. Print Redesign Services: Print publication redesign including branding, training, and management consulting

Pricing tiers

Go-to-market motion1 record

Distribution channels2 records

Marketing channels4 records

Core offering

Creative Circle Media Solutions develops and sells a suite of content management system (CMS) software for newspaper and magazine publishers, including mediasiteQ (web CMS), newsroomQ (print production CMS), and paywallQ (digital paywall), along with native content, premium pages, and advertising modules. The company also provides print redesign, creative outsourcing, training, and consulting services to media companies seeking to modernize design, editorial workflows, and digital revenue models.

Product overview

Creative Circle Media Solutions is a media technology company offering a platform-plus-modules architecture. The core software suite includes mediasiteQ (web CMS), newsroomQ (print CMS), paywallQ (integrated pay wall), and NativeNewsQ (native content), complemented by Premium Pages and QuickAds for monetization. The company provides a full range of services including web software/hosting, print production CMS, print design/redesigns, creative outsourcing, training/workshops, and consulting services. Founded in 1984, the company has redesigned over 750 print publications and built more than 650 media-related websites.

Differentiator

Problem solved

Functional benefit

Brands

• mediasiteQ: Web content management system for media companies
• newsroomQ
• paywallQ
• Premium Pages
• QuickAds
• NativeNewsQ

Products and services

• mediasiteQ Web content management system (CMS) for media companies, providing user-oriented website management with flexible and dynamic page and story templates. Used by newspaper and magazine publishers to run their digital properties.
• newsroomQ
• paywallQ
• Premium Pages
• QuickAds
• NativeNewsQ
• Honor My Grad Standalone web application that lets parents, relatives, and friends create pages honoring graduates with family pictures, stories, quotes, and video. Sold to local media outlets under a licensing model with revenue share, designed to help publishers generate revenue.
• What's Open

Quantifiable outcome

• Narrow newspaper columns (9-10 picas) can slow reading by 60%; five-column redesign addresses this
• +2 more outcomes

Named customers20 records

Segments7 records

Ideal customer profiles3 records

Technology focussed Yes

API detail

Has API

No

API docs

API detail

Core technology

AI maturity

App detail

Feature7 records

Partnerships

Five partnerships are on record, tiered core, major and strategic.

• Adobe (InDesign)coreTechnology or IntegrationInDesign integration is core to newsroomQ print production CMS. Works with both Quark and InDesign platforms for editorial production.
• QuarkcoreTechnology or IntegrationnewsroomQ print production CMS works with both Quark and InDesign platforms.
• Osteen PublishingmajorChannel Partner/ Reseller/ DistributorFamily-owned publisher using Creative Circle platforms for all publications: Las Cruces Bulletin, Desert Exposure, The Item (Sumter SC), Gulf Coast Media papers. Multiple redesign and web CMS implementations.
• E.W. Scripps CompanymajorChannel Partner/ Reseller/ DistributorScripps Treasure Coast Newspapers (four dailies) redesign project. Combined daily circulation of 107,000.
• Inland Press AssociationstrategicStrategic or Co-development PartnerCreative Circle handles design and production of Inland's monthly newspaper. Association outsourced its design, marketing and content to Creative Circle.

Scale indicators13 records

Recent moves6 records

Expansion highlights5 records

Direct peers

• BLOX Digital: BLOX Digital (successor to Newscycle / DTI) sells a CMS and digital publishing platform specifically to newspapers and broadcast groups. It competes head-on with mediasiteQ and newsroomQ in mid-market and chain publisher deals.
• Newspack (by Automattic): Newspack is a WordPress-based CMS/publishing platform purpose-built for small and community news publishers, backed by Automattic. It targets the same lower-end newspaper customers as Creative Circle's mediasiteQ and is a major threat given Automattic's brand, hosting scale, and pricing.
• TownNews: TownNews is a long-standing direct competitor providing web CMS, hosting, and revenue tools (ads, e-editions, subscriptions) to community newspapers. Greg Booras and Sean Finch, now Creative Circle leadership, previously held senior sales roles at TownNews, underscoring direct competitive and customer overlap.

Emerging players

• Quintype: Quintype is a headless CMS and content platform built for digital-first news publishers. It overlaps with mediasiteQ for digital-only and digitally-led newsrooms pursuing modern, API-first publishing architectures.
• Substack: Substack is an emerging creator/publisher platform enabling writers and small publications to monetize via subscriptions and newsletters. It competes indirectly with paywallQ and NativeNewsQ for independent and niche publisher attention and ad/subscription dollars.
• Piano: Piano is a digital media monetization platform offering paywalls, subscriptions, and audience engagement tools. Its paywall and subscription modules directly overlap with Creative Circle's paywallQ for media customers evaluating unified digital revenue stacks.

Broad incumbents

• Arc XP: Arc XP (the Washington Post's commercial CMS/spinoff) is a broad incumbent selling enterprise content management, video, and monetization tools to media companies. It competes with mediasiteQ/paywallQ for mid-to-large publisher CMS deals, with far greater engineering and capital resources.
• WordPress VIP: WordPress VIP provides enterprise-grade WordPress hosting and CMS for large media organizations. It is a broad incumbent competitor to mediasiteQ in the news/magazine publishing CMS category, especially for larger publishers evaluating platform migrations.

Others

• Local Media Association: The Local Media Association is an industry body serving community news publishers, many of whom are Creative Circle customers. It is an ecosystem/channel partner for Creative Circle's training, redesign, and CMS offerings among association members.
• Adobe (InDesign / Adobe Express): Adobe is a critical ecosystem partner — newsroomQ integrates with both InDesign and Quark — and an adjacent technology provider for newspaper and magazine design and layout. It enables Creative Circle's print production workflow but also represents an alternative design/redesign path.

Market position

Strengths4 records

Weaknesses4 records

Competitive moat5 records

Key risks7 records

Key highlights7 records

Customer concentration

• Xtwitter.com/intent/tweet?text=
• LinkedInlinkedin.com/company/creative-circle-media-consulting

Revenue estimate

Valuation estimate

Number of profiles

Profiles6 records

Funding overview

Funding rounds1 record

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 Creative Circle Advertising Solutions