The Lakeland Times

What The Lakeland Times does

The Lakeland Times is a privately-held local newspaper founded in 1891 and headquartered at 510 Chippewa Street, Minocqua, Wisconsin, serving the Northwoods region of Wisconsin including Minocqua, Woodruff, Three Lakes, Lake Tomahawk, Hazelhurst, and surrounding communities across Vilas and Oneida counties. Its core editorial coverage spans local news, high school and Legion sports, outdoors/hunting/fishing content, obituaries, opinion/letters, and local business coverage, with the publication functioning as the de facto daily paper of record for the market.

The product portfolio is built around a print subscription, a digital e-edition replica, and full website access (bundled with print and available online-only at $45/year), supported by display advertising on the website and in print. Subscription pricing is geographically tiered by zip code (discounted inside the 545 area vs. other zip codes) and offered in 1-year, 2-year, and a $4.95/month minimum-6-month recurring option, with phone-based sign-up at (715) 356-5236. The technology stack is a standard Ellington CMS platform hosting the website and e-editions; distribution spans USPS print delivery, web self-serve, and a Facebook page for community engagement, with a SmugMug integration for ancillary photo sales.

Commercially, the company operates as a small SMB (11–50 employees, single office) on a classic dual-revenue community-newspaper model combining recurring subscription revenue with local advertising. There is no disclosed parent company, ownership structure, funding history, or enterprise sales motion; the business appears to be an independent local media operation serving a single regional market, currently subject to an active website outage from a hardware malfunction affecting lakelandtimes.com and the related RiverNewsOnline.com property.

Name

The Lakeland Times

Legal name

The Lakeland Times

Website

https://lakelandtimes.com

Company type

Private

Founded year

1891

Operating status

Operating

Headcount range

11–50 employees

Short description

The Lakeland Times is a privately-held, 134-year-old local newspaper in Minocqua, Wisconsin, serving the Northwoods region with print, e-edition, and online subscriptions plus local advertising. It operates as the sole paper of record across Vilas and Oneida counties using a standard Ellington CMS.

Ownership category

akta.pro rank

Product category

Local Newspaper Publishing

NAICS

Newspaper Publishers (513110)

SIC

Periodicals: Publishing Or Publishing & Printing (2721)

akta.pro primary industry

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

Keywords

• Local newspaper publishing
• Community news coverage
• Print and digital subscriptions
• Hyperlocal journalism
• Outdoor and sports reporting

Headquarters

HQ city

Minocqua

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

Revenue model

1. Print Subscriptions: Annual and multi-year print edition subscriptions with geographic pricing based on zip code (545 area vs. other zip codes)
2. Digital Subscriptions: Online-only yearly subscriptions providing full website access to digital content and e-editions
3. Advertising: Revenue generated through display advertising on the website and in print editions
4. E-Editions: Digital replica editions of the print newspaper available to subscribers

Pricing tiers

Go-to-market motion1 record

Distribution channels3 records

Marketing channels4 records

Core offering

The Lakeland Times is a local newspaper serving the Minocqua and Northwoods Wisconsin region, publishing hyperlocal news, sports, outdoors, obituaries, and opinion content. It sells print edition subscriptions (delivered via USPS) and digital subscriptions that include website access and E-Editions (digital replicas of the print newspaper), supplemented by advertising on its website and in print.

Product overview

The Lakeland Times is a traditional local newspaper offering a single unified product portfolio centered on local news delivery. The core offerings consist of the print newspaper subscription (available in various geographic tiers: 545 area zip codes and all other zip codes, in 1-year and 2-year terms) and the E-Edition digital replica of the print publication. All print subscriptions include full website access as an add-on benefit. The product line operates as a straightforward subscription-based model with no modular architecture or add-on products beyond the base print and digital offerings.

Differentiator

Problem solved

Functional benefit

Products and services

• The Lakeland Times Print Edition Traditional print newspaper delivered to subscribers on a recurring basis, available in 1-year and 2-year subscription tiers with geographic pricing (545 area zip codes vs. other zip codes). Includes full website access as part of the print subscription.
• The Lakeland Times E-Edition Digital replica (flipbook format) of the print newspaper accessible online, allowing subscribers to view the full publication electronically from the website.
• Lakeland Times Online Access Full website access providing online news content, archives, and digital-exclusive features. Available as a standalone online-only yearly subscription or included with print subscriptions.

Segments1 record

Ideal customer profiles1 record

Technology focussed No

API detail

Has API

No

API docs

API detail

Core technology

AI maturity

App detail

Recent moves3 records

Expansion highlights2 records

Broad incumbents

• Lee Enterprises: Major U.S. local newspaper chain with print and digital subscription products across mid-size and small markets. Comparable as a subscription-driven local newspaper operator, though diversified across many markets rather than concentrated in one.
• CNHI (Community Newspaper Holdings Inc.): Operates community newspapers, websites, and related publications across the U.S., primarily in small and mid-sized markets. Comparable business model (local news + advertising) serving similarly sized rural and suburban markets.
• Gannett: Largest U.S. local newspaper publisher (USA TODAY network) operating hundreds of community papers and digital platforms across the country. Comparable as a local newspaper operator with overlapping print + digital subscription and advertising business, though at vastly larger scale.

Emerging players

• Patch Media: Digital-first hyperlocal news network covering thousands of U.S. communities with free local news and a local advertising platform. Comparable as a hyperlocal news competitor targeting similar advertisers and readers, though operating without a print edition.

Others

• Yahoo News (local aggregator partnerships): Aggregates and distributes local news content via partnerships with community publishers. Relevant as an indirect channel competitor that affects referral traffic, ad pricing, and audience expectations for small local publishers.

Direct peers

• Door County Advocate: Wisconsin community newspaper covering Door County with a similar print+digital subscription model and hyperlocal coverage focus. Comparable as a small-market Wisconsin local news outlet with a tourism-influenced readership.
• Ogden Newspapers: Family-owned chain operating community and daily newspapers in small-to-mid markets across the U.S., with print + digital subscription models. Highly comparable as a privately held local newspaper operator in small markets.
• The Vilas County News-Review: Local newspaper serving Vilas County, Wisconsin — overlapping geographic market with The Lakeland Times' Northwoods coverage area. Direct competitor for local news subscribers and advertisers in the same regional ecosystem.
• The Tomahawk Leader: Small-market Wisconsin newspaper covering Lincoln County and nearby Northwoods communities. Comparable as a hyperlocal community newspaper with print and digital editions serving a similar rural Wisconsin audience.
• River News Online: A local news outlet serving nearby Northwoods Wisconsin communities, co-mentioned on the Lakeland Times website and sharing infrastructure during recent outages. Directly comparable as a hyperlocal competitor in the same geographic media market.

Market position

Strengths4 records

Weaknesses4 records

Competitive moat4 records

Key risks5 records

Key highlights5 records

Customer concentration

• Facebookfacebook.com/LakelandTimes
• Xx.com/lakelandtimes
• LinkedInlinkedin.com/company/lakeland-times

Revenue estimate

Valuation estimate

Number of profiles

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 The Lakeland Times