What Arkansas Times does

Arkansas Times is a privately held, reader-supported independent news publication founded in 1974 and headquartered in Little Rock, Arkansas. It operates a digital-first local news franchise covering Arkansas state politics, news, opinion, food and culture, restaurants, music, movies, and art, alongside a free monthly print magazine distributed at 500+ locations across Central Arkansas. The publication is anchored by sub-brands including Arkansas Blog (flagship political coverage), Rock Candy and Eat Arkansas (food/culture), Cannabiz (cannabis industry vertical), Women in Charge (women in business), and the Blue Hog Report investigative franchise. The digital platform is powered by Newspack, a WordPress-based CMS purpose-built for news publishers, with Cloudinary for image optimization, Disqus for commenting, Google single sign-on, and reCAPTCHA for abuse protection; the editorial archive extends back to 2001 online.

The business model is a diversified four-pillar revenue stack. Recurring revenue comes from digital all-access subscriptions priced at $10/month, $120/year, with a $1 trial offer, and a $500/year group/business tier covering up to five members. Advertising revenue is split between print magazine placements and digital channels, including display ads (cover banners, right-rail cubes, post-it units), newsletter sponsorships across Daily Update, Weekly Bites, and specialty lists, and sponsored blog posts. The events pillar comprises a monthly lecture series at $100/ticket (capped at 75 attendees) featuring Arkansas newsmakers and politicians as a recurring fundraising mechanism, plus annual events such as Readers Choice Awards, Big Bud Classic, and Toast of the Town. Reader donations through Fundrazr and the Spare Change program form the fourth pillar. Customer segments include progressive-minded Arkansas residents, food and culture enthusiasts, civic-minded donors, and local/regional SMB advertisers; the audience footprint spans 250K+ monthly page views, 284K monthly devices, 64,568 email subscribers, 178K social followers, and roughly 4.6K paying subscribers, with go-to-market executed through a 51-100 person team combining direct sales (advertising), product-led acquisition (digital subscriptions), and event-driven community engagement.

Name

Arkansas Times

Legal name

Arkansas Times

Website

https://arktimes.com

Company type

Private

Founded year

1974

Operating status

Operating

Headcount range

51–100 employees

Short description

Arkansas Times is a privately held, reader-supported independent news publication founded in 1974 in Little Rock, Arkansas, covering state and local politics, food, and culture for Central Arkansas readers via digital subscriptions, a free monthly print magazine at 500+ locations, advertising, events, and reader donations.

Ownership category

akta.pro rank

Product category

Local News & Journalism

NAICS

Newspaper Publishers (513110), Newspaper Publishers (51311), Periodical Publishers (51312)

SIC

Periodicals: Publishing Or Publishing & Printing (2721)

akta.pro primary industry

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

akta.pro secondary industries

Alternative/Independent Newsweeklies & Opinion Press (MPAJADAH), News, Politics & Current Affairs Magazines (MPAJAEAO)

Keywords

• Local news publishing
• Investigative journalism
• Digital news subscriptions
• Print magazine distribution
• Independent media

Headquarters

HQ city

Little Rock

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

Revenue model

1. Digital Subscriptions: Monthly and annual digital subscription tiers providing unlimited all-access reading to the Arkansas Times website, including Arkansas Blog, columns, news, food and culture coverage, and web archives dating back to 2001.
2. Print Magazine Distribution: Free monthly print magazine distributed at over 500 locations in Central Arkansas. Revenue generated through print advertising rather than print subscription fees.
3. Digital Advertising: Display advertising on website including standard banners, rotating cubes, post-it units. Newsletter sponsorships including Daily Update and Weekly Bites. Guaranteed minimum impressions ranging from 125K to 300K per unit type.
4. Print Advertising: Print advertising placements in monthly magazine editions. Combined with digital for cross-platform advertising packages.
5. Lecture Series Events: Monthly speaker events with in-person tickets at $100 (includes lunch) and virtual attendance options. Events feature Arkansas newsmakers, politicians, and writers. Raises money for investigative journalism.
6. Reader Donations: Donations supporting independent journalism in Arkansas through a dedicated donation portal. Monthly giving options available.
7. Special Publications and Guides: Annual guides and special sections including Foodie Guide, Best of Arkansas, Readers Choice Awards, and niche publications like Cannabiz and Arkansas Wild magazine.

Pricing tiers

Go-to-market motion3 records

Distribution channels6 records

Marketing channels8 records

Core offering

Arkansas Times is an independent, reader-supported news publication producing Arkansas-focused journalism across politics, policy, food, culture, and entertainment. It distributes a free monthly print magazine at 500+ Central Arkansas locations and sells digital all-access subscriptions ($10/month or $120/year) that unlock unlimited website content, including the Arkansas Blog, web archives dating to 2001, and special sections. Revenue is supplemented by print and digital advertising, reader donations, sponsored content, and ticketed events such as the monthly Lecture Series.

Product overview

Arkansas Times operates as a digital-first local news publication offering both a website and monthly print magazine distributed free at over 500 Central Arkansas locations. The core product is its Digital All-Access Subscription, which provides unlimited access to its Arkansas Blog (primary news coverage), Food & Culture section, and archived content dating to 2001. Special sub-brands include Cannabiz (cannabis industry coverage) and Midterm Election News. The publication generates revenue through digital subscriptions ($10/month or $120/year), group/business subscriptions ($500/year for up to 5 members), advertising products, and reader donations. Events include the monthly Lecture Series, annual Reader's Choice Awards, Big Bud Classic cannabis competition, and Toast of the Town bar awards. The site is powered by Newspack (WordPress-based) with Cloudinary for image hosting, Disqus for comments, and Google authentication. Events and donations are managed through third-party platforms (Central Arkansas Tickets and Fundrazr).

Differentiator

Problem solved

Functional benefit

Brands

• Arkansas Blog: The publication's flagship blog covering Arkansas news, politics, and current events.
• Rock Candy
• Eat Arkansas
• Cannabiz
• Arkansas Advocate

Products and services

• Arkansas Times Digital Subscription Monthly ($10) and annual ($120) digital subscription providing unlimited all-access reading to the Arkansas Times website, including Arkansas Blog, columns, news, politics, food and culture coverage, and web archives dating back to 2001. A $1 trial is offered for the first month.
• Arkansas Times Print Magazine Free monthly print magazine covering Arkansas news, politics, opinion, restaurants, music, movies and art. Distributed at 500+ retail and hospitality locations in Central Arkansas and monetized through advertising rather than cover price.
• Digital & Print Advertising Advertising offerings for local and regional businesses including cover banners, right rail placements, rotating cube ads, newsletter sponsorships, sponsored blog posts, and print placements. Guaranteed impression minimums range from 125K to 300K per unit.
• Lecture Series Monthly speaker events held in-person at Copper Grill in Little Rock with $100 tickets (lunch included, limited to 75 attendees) and virtual attendance options. Features Arkansas political and cultural figures to raise funds for investigative journalism.
• Cannabiz Special Publication Niche editorial product covering Arkansas's medical marijuana and cannabis industry, including regulatory developments and business news.
• Foodie Guide Annual restaurant and dining guide for Central Arkansas featuring reviews, recommendations, and curated coverage of the local food scene.

Quantifiable outcome

• 250K+ monthly page views demonstrating substantial readership reach
• +3 more outcomes

Named customers3 records

Segments4 records

Ideal customer profiles3 records

Technology focussed No

API detail

Has API

No

API docs

API detail

Core technology

AI maturity

App detail

Integration7 records

Feature2 records

Partnerships

Six partnerships are on record, tiered minor and core.

• WLJ (Woman-Run initiative)minorStrategic or Co-development Partner · 16 March 2026Partnership on Women in Charge podcast series. WLJ created the Woman-Run initiative in 2019 to build connections through networking, mentorship, education and resources.
• Arkansas AdvocatecoreStrategic or Co-development PartnerArkansas Times publishes partner content from Arkansas Advocate, an investigative journalism organization focused on Arkansas. This includes articles on state policy, politics, and public interest journalism that appear on the Arkansas Times platform.
• Central Arkansas Tickets (Events Platform)minorChannel Partner/ Reseller/ DistributorThird-party event ticketing platform for Arkansas Times events including Sip and Swirl wine tasting and other community events.
• Fundrazr (Donations and Events)coreChannel Partner/ Reseller/ DistributorPrimary donation and event ticketing platform for Arkansas Times, including lecture series tickets, donations, and campaign fundraising for investigative journalism.
• NewspackcoreTechnology or IntegrationWordPress-based content management system powering the Arkansas Times digital platform. Provides publishing infrastructure and advertising capabilities.
• Copper Grill RestaurantminorGTM or Marketing PartnerVenue partner for monthly lecture series events. Located in downtown Little Rock, Copper Grill provides private dining room for Arkansas Times events with lunch included in ticket price.

Scale indicators7 records

Recent moves6 records

Expansion highlights5 records

Direct peers

• Riverfront Times: St. Louis alt-weekly covering news, politics, food, and music with the same advertising + digital subscription + events + free print distribution model. Same operational template as Arkansas Times but serving a different mid-sized regional market (St. Louis metro).
• Boise Weekly: Independent Boise, Idaho alt-weekly covering local politics, food, music, and culture via digital subscription + advertising + free print distribution. Same business model as Arkansas Times with structurally similar features (Newspack-style CMS, weekly print magazine, events).
• LEO Weekly: Louisville, Kentucky alt-weekly covering local news, politics, food, drink, and arts with digital subscriptions and event programming. Highly comparable business model mix (news + culture + events) to Arkansas Times, serving a comparable mid-size Southern city.
• Austin Chronicle: Long-running alternative weekly in Austin, Texas covering politics, music, food, and culture with print + digital subscriptions, events, and advertising. Operates the exact alt-weekly model Arkansas Times uses - independent, free print magazine, paid digital subscriptions, event-driven revenue - but at much larger scale.
• Arkansas Democrat-Gazette: The dominant daily newspaper in Arkansas, published statewide from Little Rock by Arkansas Online. Competes directly with Arkansas Times for Arkansas readers, advertisers, and political/journalism coverage, though it serves a broader statewide audience and is the legacy incumbent where AT is the progressive alternative.
• Illinois Times: Springfield, Illinois alt-weekly that shares AT's format: progressive editorial lens, free weekly print distribution, digital subscriptions, advertising, and event programming. One of the closest direct operational peers and namesake in the alt-weekly category.
• Arkansas Advocate: Arkansas-focused investigative journalism nonprofit that already partners with Arkansas Times for content syndication. Operates in the same state and topical territory with a reader/donor-supported model; both compete and collaborate on Arkansas policy and accountability journalism.
• Nashville Scene: Nashville alternative weekly offering news, politics, food, and arts coverage with digital subscriptions and advertising. Closely matches AT's reader-supported, progressive-leaning alt-weekly format in another mid-size Southern state capital market.

Broad incumbents

• Axios Local: National digital local-news franchise (Axios) operating city-specific editions (e.g., Axios Little Rock). Represents the digital-first, newsletter-anchored model that competes with AT for digital subscription dollars and advertiser attention in the same Little Rock market.

Emerging players

• The Texas Observer: Texas-based nonprofit investigative journalism outlet focused on progressive state-level politics and policy. Highly comparable in editorial positioning (progressive state-level journalism) and investigative mission, though operated as a nonprofit relying more on donations.

Market position

Strengths4 records

Weaknesses5 records

Competitive moat4 records

Key risks5 records

Key highlights6 records

Customer concentration

• Xx.com/arktimes
• Facebookfacebook.com/arkansastimes
• Instagraminstagram.com/arktimes
• LinkedInlinkedin.com/company/arkansas-times

Revenue estimate

Valuation estimate

Number of profiles

Profiles13 records

Subsidiaries1 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 Arkansas Times