El Dorado News-Times

What El Dorado News-Times does

El Dorado News-Times is a privately held local newspaper founded in 1889, serving El Dorado and Union County, Arkansas, with a staff of 51-100 employees. The publication functions as the primary source of local journalism for its market, producing coverage across local news, sports, state and national/world news, business, obituaries, opinion, and community events. Its core product is the Digital Replica Edition, a full facsimile of the print newspaper delivered through a web browser and dedicated mobile applications on Apple (iPad/iPhone) and Android devices, built on a Newspaper Direct technology stack with features including live news updates, text resizing, bookmarking, and article listen functionality. Supporting products include an interactive puzzles and games portal, classifieds marketplace, printable announcement forms (anniversary, birth, engagement, school news, wedding), email newsletters, photo galleries, a community calendar, public notices, and a Community Journalism Project enabling citizen contributions.

The company operates a hybrid subscription and advertising revenue model. Distribution combines a seven-day digital replica (the default weekday delivery method after a recent transition from daily print) with retained Sunday print edition distribution via racks and convenience stores. New subscriber acquisition is driven by aggressive promotional pricing — currently a $1 multi-week Unlimited Digital Access offer around the Independence Day campaign — alongside advertising sales, legal public notices, classified listings, and a public-facing donation channel pointing to eldoradojournalism.org. The go-to-market motion is direct-to-consumer through the eldoradonews.com website, mobile app stores, email newsletters, and a regional sales team for advertising.

The newsroom is anchored by a Regional Managing Editor, an Assistant Editor, a Sports Editor, and four reporters. There is no evidence of institutional ownership, parent company, or outside investors; the publication appears to operate as a standalone local newspaper. Despite no disclosure of revenue figures, the combination of a constrained single-county geographic footprint, ongoing print-to-digital transition, and promotional pricing strategy positions El Dorado News-Times as a community-scale publisher executing a defensive digital pivot typical of legacy U.S. local journalism.

Name

El Dorado News-Times

Legal name

El Dorado News-Times

Website

https://eldoradonews.com

Company type

Private

Founded year

1889

Operating status

Operating

Headcount range

51–100 employees

Short description

El Dorado News-Times is a private community newspaper serving El Dorado and Union County, Arkansas, distributing local news via a digital replica edition, mobile apps, and a weekly Sunday print edition under a hybrid subscription and advertising revenue model.

Ownership category

akta.pro rank

Headquarters

HQ city

El Dorado Hills

HQ country

United States

HQ region

North America

Markets served

GTM type

B2C

Offering type

Digital Commerce or Content

Cost components

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

Pricing tiers

Distribution channels4 records

Marketing channels3 records

Core offering

El Dorado News-Times is a local community newspaper that publishes original local, state, national, and world news, sports, business, and obituaries for El Dorado, Arkansas and Union County. Its core offering is a digital replica newspaper accessible via mobile apps and a web browser, supported by a website with classifieds, puzzles, newsletters, and printable announcement forms, with a Sunday print edition retained for physical readers.

Product overview

El Dorado News-Times is a local newspaper publisher operating as a single unified product portfolio centered on its digital-first newspaper delivery model. The core offering is the Digital Replica Edition, available via mobile apps (Apple iPad/iPhone and Android) and web browser, which replaces daily print delivery (except Sunday) with seven-day digital access. Supporting products include the news website with multiple content sections, interactive puzzles and games, classifieds marketplace, printable announcement forms (anniversary, birth, engagement, school news, wedding), email newsletters, and a community journalism initiative. The offering functions as a platform-plus-apps architecture where the digital replica app is the primary consumer interface.

Differentiator

Problem solved

Functional benefit

Products and services

• El Dorado News-Times Digital Replica Edition

Segments2 records

Ideal customer profiles2 records

Technology focussed No

API detail

Has API

No

API docs

API detail

Core technology

AI maturity

App detail

Feature1 record

Recent moves5 records

Expansion highlights4 records

Direct peers

• Arkansas Democrat-Gazette: Arkansas's statewide daily newspaper, also operating under the WEHCO Media umbrella, sharing platform/digital infrastructure and digital replica technology with El Dorado News-Times. Directly comparable in product format, subscription model, and regional coverage of Arkansas communities.
• Camden News: Local newspaper serving Camden and Ouachita County in south Arkansas, a neighboring community to El Dorado. Comparable as a small-market Arkansas daily delivering local, state, and regional news via the same WEHCO/Arlington digital platform.
• Magnolia Banner-News: Local newspaper covering Magnolia and Columbia County in south Arkansas. Comparable as a small-circulation community paper using the same digital replica edition infrastructure with overlapping content verticals (local news, sports, classifieds).
• Texarkana Gazette: Regional daily newspaper serving Texarkana on the Texas-Arkansas border. Comparable as a multi-county regional paper with parallel subscription, classifieds, and digital replica operations targeting a community of similar scale in the same geographic region.
• Hot Springs Sentinel-Record: Daily newspaper serving Hot Springs and Garland County, Arkansas. Comparable as a community-level Arkansas daily operating a digital replica edition plus print product with similar subscription and local advertising revenue mix.

Broad incumbents

• Lee Enterprises: Large publicly traded U.S. media company operating hundreds of local newspapers across the country. Comparable as the broader incumbent publishing platform operating community papers of similar scale and structure.
• Gannett | USA TODAY Network: Largest U.S. newspaper chain operating local dailies plus USA TODAY. Comparable as the dominant broad incumbent that has executed its own digital-subscriber transition across a portfolio of community news brands of similar size.
• WEHCO Media: Privately held Arkansas media company operating multiple Arkansas dailies including the Arkansas Democrat-Gazette and apparent platform provider for El Dorado News-Times (per shared CDN/hosting indicators). Closely tied incumbent comparable on both content and infrastructure.
• Tribune Publishing: Major U.S. newspaper publisher operating regional and metropolitan dailies. Comparable as a broader incumbent executing digital subscription transitions at community and metropolitan papers across multiple markets.

Regional players

• El Dorado Journal: Alternative weekly publication covering the same El Dorado, Arkansas market with overlapping local news, sports, and lifestyle content. Comparable as a hyperlocal content competitor operating adjacent rather than directly against the daily.

Market position

Strengths4 records

Weaknesses4 records

Competitive moat3 records

Key risks5 records

Key highlights6 records

Customer concentration

• LinkedInlinkedin.com/company/el-dorado-news-times

Revenue estimate

Valuation estimate

Number of profiles

Profiles7 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 El Dorado News-Times