Times Leader

What Times Leader does

Times Leader is a privately held regional newspaper company headquartered in Wilkes Barre, Pennsylvania, operating as the flagship of Times Leader Media Group under parent company Avant Publications since 2019. The company publishes a seven-day news product covering Northeastern Pennsylvania—particularly the Scranton/Wilkes-Barre metropolitan area and Luzerne County—and serves local residents seeking breaking news, sports (high school, college, and professional), obituaries, classifieds, weather, lottery, and community information. The company operates a multi-platform distribution footprint that includes a web hub at timesleader.com, native iOS and Android applications, a web-based E-Edition, SMS/news alerts powered by EZ Texting, email newsletters, social media channels (Facebook, X/Twitter, Instagram, YouTube, Pinterest), print home delivery, and retail single-copy sales throughout Luzerne County.

The company's product portfolio extends beyond the flagship Times Leader newspaper to include six affiliated community publications (The Abington Journal, The Dallas Post, The Sunday Dispatch, The Weekender, Go Lackawanna, and Hazleton Times); the TL Digital Services (TL DPM) division providing programmatic display, paid search, retargeting, geo-fencing, video/CTV, native advertising, and email blast solutions; a Spotlight PA syndicated investigative feed; a Luzerne County property tax assessment database; a NewsBank-powered historical archive; and classified advertising services for jobs, real estate, obituaries, and personal announcements.

Times Leader generates revenue through four primary streams: (1) consumer subscriptions across three tiers—E-Edition digital access at $9.99/month, All Access print+digital bundle at $18.95/month, and Sunday-only print delivery; (2) digital and print advertising sold to local and regional businesses through a direct sales team; (3) classified advertising with both self-service and contact-based submission; and (4) membership/Advocate program recurring contributions at $10 and $25 monthly tiers with Diamond Card benefits. The go-to-market model is direct-to-consumer for subscriptions (website, mobile apps, retail purchase locations) and direct sales (field/enterprise) for advertising and corporate contributions. The company employs 251-500 staff and is led by Publisher Kerry Miscavage (joined 1995), Advertising Director Diane McGee (joined 1997), Press and Mailroom Director Tom Suchoski (24 years), Director of Operations Marc D. Aguirre Couchot, and Executive Editor Jake Higgins (appointed September 2025).

Name

Times Leader

Legal name

Times Leader

Website

https://timesleader.com

Company type

Private

Founded year

1907

Operating status

Operating

Headcount range

251–500 employees

Short description

Times Leader is a privately held regional newspaper company in Wilkes-Barre, Pennsylvania, serving Northeastern Pennsylvania consumers and advertisers with multi-platform print, digital, mobile, SMS, and advertising solutions across its flagship paper and six sister publications.

Ownership category

akta.pro rank

Product category

Regional Newspaper Publishing

NAICS

Newspaper Publishers (513110), Periodical Publishers (513120), Media Buying Agencies (541830)

SIC

Newspapers: Publishing Or Publishing & Printing (2711), Periodicals: Publishing Or Publishing & Printing (2721)

akta.pro primary industry

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

Keywords

• Local newspaper publishing
• Digital news subscription
• Regional news coverage
• Digital advertising solutions
• Classified advertising marketplace

Headquarters

HQ city

Wilkes Barre

HQ country

United States

HQ region

North America

Offices3 records

Markets served

GTM type

B2C

Offering type

Services

Cost components

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

Revenue model

1. Subscription Revenue: Recurring subscription revenue from digital E-Edition access ($9.99/mo) and All Access print+digital subscriptions ($18.95/mo), plus Sunday-only print subscriptions.
2. Digital Advertising: Display advertising, programmatic display, targeted advertising (geo-fencing, retargeting, paid search), video advertising (preroll, connected TV), homepage takeovers, native advertising, and custom email blasts reaching engaged audiences.
3. Classified Advertising: Revenue from classified ads for jobs, real estate, obituaries, and other categories, offered through both online self-service and contact-based submission.
4. Print Circulation: Daily and Sunday print newspaper delivery, including coupons, ads, and inserts, part of the All Access subscription package.

Pricing tiers

Go-to-market motion1 record

Distribution channels5 records

Marketing channels8 records

Core offering

Times Leader is a multi-platform regional newspaper publisher serving Northeastern Pennsylvania. Its core offering is a flagship seven-day print newspaper plus a digital E-Edition (web and mobile apps), with readers paying monthly subscriptions ($9.99 E-Edition, $18.95 All Access print+digital, Sunday-only options, and Advocate-tier monthly contributions). The company also monetizes its engaged local audience through an in-house digital advertising division (TL DPM), classified advertising for jobs, obituaries, and real estate, SMS news alerts, and complementary tools such as a Luzerne County property tax assessment database and a NewsBank-powered historical archive.

Product overview

Times Leader is a regional newspaper publisher offering a multi-platform news operation anchored by its flagship seven-day Times Leader newspaper covering Northeastern Pennsylvania. The company operates a portfolio of digital and print products including the Times Leader E-Edition (web and mobile), native iOS/Android apps, and the TL Digital Services (TL DPM) division providing digital advertising solutions. The Times Leader Media Group umbrella also includes affiliated publications (The Abington Journal, The Dallas Post, The Sunday Dispatch, The Weekender, Go Lackawanna, Hazleton Times). Additional offerings include SMS news alerts, a Luzerne County property tax assessment database tool, NewsBank-powered archive access, and classified advertising services.

Differentiator

Problem solved

Functional benefit

Products and services

• Times Leader (flagship newspaper) Seven-day flagship regional newspaper covering Northeastern Pennsylvania, serving Wilkes-Barre and the Scranton/Wilkes-Barre metropolitan area with local news, sports, business, crime, government, weather, obituaries, opinion, and community coverage.
• Times Leader E-Edition Digital replica of the print newspaper accessible on web and via mobile apps, providing unlimited access to current and archived Times Leader content for digital subscribers.
• Times Leader iOS/Android Apps Native mobile applications for iPhone/iPad and Android devices enabling on-the-go access to news content, E-Edition, breaking news push notifications, and personalized alerts for Times Leader subscribers.
• Times Leader Archive (NewsBank) NewsBank-powered historical archive providing searchable access to past Times Leader articles and Northeastern Pennsylvania historical news content.
• TL Digital Services (TL DPM) In-house digital advertising solutions division offering programmatic display, paid search (PPC), social media advertising, retargeting, geo-fencing, video/streaming, connected-TV, landing page creation, custom email blasts, native advertising, quizzes/sweepstakes, and e-commerce solutions to local and regional advertisers.
• Times Leader News Alerts (Text/SMS) SMS-based news alert subscription service delivering breaking news and daily headlines to mobile devices via text messaging, powered by the EZ Texting platform.
• Property Tax Assessment Database Searchable Luzerne County property assessment database allowing users to look up real estate data by owner name, property location, municipality, PIN, and other criteria.
• Times Leader Classifieds Online and contact-based classified advertising platform for placing job listings, real estate ads, obituary notices, personal announcements, and other classifieds in the Northeastern Pennsylvania market.
• Times Leader Support Local Journalism (Advocate Program) Monthly subscription membership program supporting local journalism at $10/month and $25/month tiers, with Diamond Card rewards for advocates.

Segments3 records

Ideal customer profiles2 records

Technology focussed No

API detail

Has API

No

API docs

API detail

Core technology

AI maturity

App detail

Integration11 records

Partnerships

Four partnerships are on record, tiered core and minor.

• Times Leader Media Group Publications (The Abington Journal, The Dallas Post, The Sunday Dispatch, The Weekender, Go Lackawanna, Hazleton Times)coreChannel Partner/ Reseller/ DistributorTimes Leader operates The Abington Journal, The Dallas Post, The Sunday Dispatch, The Weekender, Go Lackawanna, and Hazleton Times as part of the Times Leader Media Group portfolio, serving Greater Pittston, Back Mountain, Abingtons, and Hazleton areas. These publications extend reach across Northeastern Pennsylvania.
• Apple (App Store)minorChannel Partner/ Reseller/ DistributoriOS app distribution through Apple App Store for Times Leader iPhone/iPad application.
• Google (Google Play Store)minorChannel Partner/ Reseller/ DistributorAndroid app distribution through Google Play Store for Times Leader Android application.
• Spotlight PAminorStrategic or Co-development PartnerIndependent, nonpartisan, nonprofit newsroom producing investigative and public-service journalism in Pennsylvania. Times Leader syndicates Spotlight PA content.

Scale indicators3 records

Recent moves7 records

Expansion highlights6 records

Direct peers

• The Scranton Times-Tribune: Direct competitor covering the Scranton side of the same Scranton/Wilkes-Barre metropolitan area. Times-Shamrock-owned daily with comparable print + digital subscription model and local advertising focus, making it the closest head-to-head peer in the NEPA market.
• The Citizens' Voice: Wilkes-Barre-based daily newspaper owned by Wyoming Valley Publishing (Times-Shamrock competitor) that directly competes with Times Leader for Luzerne County readers and local advertising dollars. Closest same-city peer.

Regional players

• Pocono Record: Gannett-owned daily covering Monroe and Pike counties, just south of Times Leader's NEPA footprint. Comparable subscription + digital ad model targeting an adjacent regional audience, making it a strong geographic-adjacent peer rather than a direct Wilkes-Barre competitor.
• Standard-Speaker (Hazleton): Daily newspaper serving the Hazleton area — territory that overlaps with Times Leader's Hazleton Times subsidiary. Useful peer for understanding the regional NEPA newspaper economics and the dynamic of a larger paper absorbing a smaller local title.

Broad incumbents

• Gannett Co. Largest U.S. local newspaper operator (USA TODAY Network), owning hundreds of dailies including Pocono Record and many other NEPA-adjacent titles. Provides the broad-incumbent benchmark for subscription, digital ad, and operational scale across U.S. regional papers.
• Lee Enterprises: Major U.S. regional newspaper group operating ~75 dailies and 350+ weekly titles across 26 states. Closely comparable business model (subscription + local digital advertising) and a useful benchmark for cost structure and digital transformation trajectory in regional publishing.
• Ogden Newspapers: Family-owned group of 40+ daily newspapers and associated weeklies across the U.S. Comparable in scale to a multi-publication NEPA group like Times Leader Media Group, with similar mix of subscription, print, and local digital advertising revenue.
• Advance Local: Advance Publications' local news division operating digital-first regional sites (MLive, SILive, etc.) with subscription and advertising models. Important peer as a forward-looking example of how a regional publisher can rebalance toward digital.
• McClatchy: U.S. regional newspaper chain (now private, backed by Chatham Asset Management) operating ~30 dailies. Provides a relevant benchmark for a private-equity-owned regional newspaper group pursuing digital subscription and advertising growth.

Emerging players

• Patch.com: Digital-first hyperlocal news network covering thousands of U.S. communities. A meaningful competitive and category reference for how local news can be delivered digitally without a print product, and a key benchmark for shifting local digital ad share.

Market position

Strengths5 records

Weaknesses5 records

Competitive moat4 records

Key risks5 records

Key highlights7 records

Customer concentration

• Xx.com/TLNews
• YouTubeyoutube.com/timesleadervideo
• Facebookfacebook.com/timesleader
• Instagraminstagram.com/timesleaderphoto
• Pinterestpinterest.com/timesleader

Revenue estimate

Valuation estimate

Number of profiles

Profiles5 records

Subsidiaries6 records

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 Times Leader