What Creative Circle does

Creative Circle Media Solutions is a privately held software, design, and consulting firm headquartered in East Providence, Rhode Island, founded in 1984 by Bill Ostendorf. The company serves primarily small and mid-market newspaper publishers in the United States, with a secondary footprint in magazine publishers, religious multi-edition publications (Florida Catholic, Arlington Catholic Herald), industry associations (Inland Press Association, America's Newspapers), and a long tail of small businesses, entrepreneurs, and book authors. Its core product suite — mediasiteQ (web CMS), newsroomQ (print production CMS with Quark and InDesign interoperability), and paywallQ (subscription and paywall management) — is supplemented by QuickAds, NativeNewsQ, and Premium Pages as advertising and content modules, and complemented by consulting, creative outsourcing, print redesign, and training services.

The technology stack is built around practical, integration-first CMS architecture: newsroomQ runs cloud or server-based and supplements rather than replaces legacy desktop publishing tools (Quark, InDesign), adds metadata management, workflow tracking, and web-first publishing; mediasiteQ provides responsive web CMS with automatic content ingestion from print production; paywallQ supports metered, hard, and registration paywalls and is CMS-agnostic so it can be deployed with WordPress or legacy systems. Integration partners include NewsEditIQ for content ingestion, Mirabel Technologies for publisher CRM, and The Blinder Group for advertising sales support.

The business model combines recurring subscription or licensing fees for the CMS product line (priced by circulation size and feature modules) with quote-based professional services — print redesign projects, training, consulting, and ongoing creative outsourcing. The company sells via direct sales with website demo scheduling and through active participation at industry trade shows (ACP, Niche Media, NNA). Marketing reach is largely niche and relationship-driven, supported by an extensive public case-study portfolio of newspaper redesigns. Headcount is reported at 1-10 employees, indicating a deliberately small operational footprint relative to the breadth of products and services offered.

Name

Creative Circle

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 privately held newspaper technology and consulting firm that provides CMS platforms (mediasiteQ, newsroomQ, paywallQ), print redesign services, and creative outsourcing primarily to small and mid-market newspaper publishers and industry associations across the United States.

Ownership category

akta.pro rank

Product category

Newspaper and Publishing Technology Services

NAICS

Software Publishers (5132), Advertising, Public Relations, and Related Services (5418)

SIC

Services-Mailing, Reproduction, Commercial Art & Photography (7330), Miscellaneous Publishing (2741), Services-Management Consulting Services (8742)

akta.pro primary industry

Digital Magazine & Newspaper Subscription Platforms (Paywalls, Membership) (MPAJAMAD)

akta.pro secondary industries

Content Studio & Creative Resourcing (In-house/Embedded Teams) (BPAFAIAJ), Consumer News & Digital Newsrooms (Web/App-First) (MPAJADAD), Content Strategy & Planning (BPAFAIAG)

Keywords

• Newspaper consulting services
• Publishing CMS software
• Paywall subscription system
• Print redesign services
• Creative outsourcing media

Headquarters

HQ city

East Providence

HQ country

United States

HQ region

North America

Offices1 record

Markets served

GTM type

B2B

Offering type

Services

Cost components

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

Revenue model

1. Software Licensing (CMS Platforms): Annual subscription or licensing fees for proprietary CMS platforms including mediasiteQ (web), newsroomQ (print), and paywallQ. Pricing based on circulation size and feature modules.
2. Professional Services: Consulting, design/redesign, training, and creative outsourcing services. Includes print redesign projects, web development, branding, and ongoing operational support.
3. Standalone Software Sales: paywallQ available as standalone product independent of CMS bundle, expanding revenue opportunities beyond existing client base.

Pricing tiers

Go-to-market motion2 records

Distribution channels2 records

Marketing channels5 records

Core offering

Creative Circle Media Solutions provides newspaper and magazine publishers with proprietary cloud- and server-based content management systems (mediasiteQ for web, newsroomQ for print production, and paywallQ for subscription and paywall management), complemented by advertising modules, premium content tools, and specialized web applications. The firm pairs this software with hands-on services including print design and redesigns, creative outsourcing, training workshops, consulting, digital sales blitzes, recruiting, and board representation. Customers span daily and weekly newspapers, magazines, religious publications, industry associations, and select businesses, entrepreneurs, and restaurants.

Product overview

Creative Circle Media Solutions is a media technology company offering a unified platform for print and digital publishing. Their core product suite includes mediasiteQ (web CMS), newsroomQ (print production CMS), and paywallQ (subscription/paywall management), complemented by modules like Premium Pages, QuickAds, and NativeNewsQ. These products are designed to work together, enabling newspapers to manage both print and web operations from a coordinated system. They also offer specialized applications including What's Open, Honor My Grad, and Honor My Mom for niche media needs. The company provides services including web software/hosting, print design/redesigns, creative outsourcing, training/workshops, consulting services, branding, digital sales blitzes, recruiting services, and board representation for newspapers, magazines, book authors, associations, businesses, entrepreneurs, and restaurants/cookbooks.

Differentiator

Problem solved

Functional benefit

Products and services

• mediasiteQ Cloud- and server-based web content management system for newspapers and media companies, enabling responsive, newspaper-centric websites with streamlined content management and integration with print production pipelines.
• newsroomQ Print production CMS that integrates with Quark or InDesign, supplementing them with metadata management, third-party integrations, workflow tracking, change logging, and web publishing capabilities.
• paywallQ Flexible paywall and subscription management system supporting metered, hard, or registration paywalls along with membership models, individual item sales, shopping cart functionality, PCI compliance, and integration with legacy circulation systems.
• Premium Pages Premium content offering for local publishers that adds new revenue opportunities and quality content to publisher websites.
• QuickAds Advertising management solution for media companies that streamlines ad operations and sales, delivered with on-site consulting support from The Blinder Group.
• NativeNewsQ Native advertising solution enabling newspapers and media organizations to create, manage, and sell sponsored content, with field sales support from The Blinder Group.
• Print design and redesign services Full redesign projects for newspapers and magazines including identity work, typography, layout systems, and prototyping of nameplates, supported by training programs for editorial and production staff.
• Creative outsourcing Design, production, editing, and writing outsourcing that delivers professional-quality publications and marketing materials without the need for clients to maintain in-house creative teams.
• Training and workshops Hands-on training programs and workshops that upskill editorial, production, and sales teams on new designs, systems, and workflows.
• Consulting services Strategic and operational consulting for newspapers, magazines, and associations covering content strategy, audience development, and digital revenue growth.
• Digital sales blitzes Intensive short-term digital sales engagements that accelerate digital advertising and subscription revenue for publishers.
• Recruiting services Recruiting services that place candidates into editorial, sales, and management roles at newspapers and magazines.
• Board representation Board representation and recruitment services for newspapers and media organizations, including access to experienced publishing board members.
• What's Open Web application built during the COVID-19 pandemic that helps newspapers show local communities which businesses are open, supporting community communication during lockdowns.
• Honor My Grad Application created during the COVID-19 pandemic that helps families and communities celebrate graduates when traditional graduation ceremonies were canceled.
• Honor My Mom Application created for Mother's Day during the COVID-19 pandemic to help communities honor mothers in lieu of traditional gatherings.
• Election Candidates Application that helps voters learn about election candidates and their positions, distributed to newspapers for use in election coverage.

Quantifiable outcome

• Herald-Citizen achieved 550,000-600,000 unique monthly page visits after mediasiteQ implementation.
• +3 more outcomes

Named customers11 records

Segments8 records

Ideal customer profiles4 records

Technology focussed Yes

API detail

Has API

No

API docs

API detail

Core technology

AI maturity

App detail

Integration5 records

Feature6 records

Partnerships

Five partnerships are on record, tiered core and minor.

• America's NewspaperscoreStrategic or Co-development Partner · 23 March 2020America's Newspapers (nationwide association created October 2019 from merger of Inland Press Association and Southern Newspaper Publishers Association) partnered with Creative Circle to build and host their website and the Media Virus Watch coronavirus information portal. Creative Circle built the site in approximately 48 hours during the pandemic.
• Editor & PublishercoreStrategic or Co-development Partner · 23 March 2020Editor & Publisher (authoritative voice of news publishing since 1884) partnered with America's Newspapers and Creative Circle to launch Media Virus Watch, a coronavirus information hub for the news industry. Creative Circle built and hosts the platform.
• Mirabel TechnologiescoreTechnology or IntegrationMirabel Technologies is a privately owned, international software company founded in 2003 by Mark McCormick. The company empowers publishers with The Magazine Manager, the first web-based CRM for publishers now serving more than 15,000 media properties worldwide. Mirabel and Creative Circle serve complementary segments of the media technology market.
• The Blinder GroupcoreGTM or Marketing PartnerThe Blinder Group provides on-site consulting and sales training services. They provide sales support specifically for Creative Circle products including QuickAds and NativeNewsQ, helping drive adoption of advertising solutions.
• DuoPicturesminorStrategic or Co-development PartnerDuoPictures is a small-footprint production company creating photographs and films for nonprofit organizations and clients in healthcare, higher education, technology and business in Rhode Island and Massachusetts. Founded by long-time photojournalists Scott Kingsley and David DelPoio.

Scale indicators5 records

Recent moves6 records

Expansion highlights5 records

Direct peers

• TownNews (BLOX Digital): TownNews, now operating as BLOX Digital after Lee Enterprises' acquisition, is a leading CMS, audience engagement, and revenue platform purpose-built for newspapers — a direct head-to-head competitor to Creative Circle's mediasiteQ and paywallQ within the same community-newspaper segment.
• Arc XP: Arc XP is The Washington Post's enterprise publishing platform spun out as a SaaS business, offering CMS, video, and paywall capabilities to news organizations of all sizes. It competes directly with mediasiteQ/newsroomQ for mid-market and larger publisher deals.
• Naviga: Naviga provides audience engagement, subscription management, and content platforms for news media, including circulation and paywall systems that overlap with Creative Circle's paywallQ and creative outsourcing for the same newspaper customers.
• PageSuite: PageSuite is a digital publishing platform providing CMS, e-editions, and app solutions to news publishers globally; its e-edition and CMS products overlap directly with mediasiteQ and Creative Circle's web/digital newspaper offerings.
• Mirabel Technologies: Mirabel Technologies' Magazine Manager is a web-based CRM serving 15,000+ media properties and is explicitly noted as serving complementary segments to Creative Circle. It overlaps in publisher-facing sales/advertising software (QuickAds, NativeNewsQ adjacent).

Broad incumbents

• WordPress / Automattic: WordPress (via Automattic) powers a huge share of newspaper websites and is explicitly supported by paywallQ. Its free/cheap CMS plus robust plugin ecosystem (including paywall plugins) is the dominant competitive baseline against which mediasiteQ must justify its premium.
• Adobe: Adobe InDesign is the dominant print layout tool and a core integration point for newsroomQ; Adobe's broader Creative Cloud and Adobe Express offerings for publishers represent an adjacent incumbent whose pricing and bundling affect Creative Circle's value proposition.
• INNODATA: INNODATA provides content services, digital transformation, and publishing technology to media and information services companies at a much larger scale, making it a broad incumbent in the outsourced publishing services category where Creative Circle competes.

Market position

Strengths5 records

Weaknesses5 records

Competitive moat4 records

Key risks6 records

Key highlights7 records

Customer concentration

• Xx.com/creativecircle9
• LinkedInlinkedin.com/company/creative-circle-media-consulting

Revenue estimate

Valuation estimate

Number of profiles

Profiles3 records

Funding overview

Funding rounds4 records

Investors1 record

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