The Westerly Sun

What The Westerly Sun does

The Westerly Sun is a privately held community newspaper serving southern Rhode Island and southeastern Connecticut, founded in 1857 and headquartered at 100 Main Street, Westerly, Rhode Island. The publication functions as the recognized local newspaper of record for municipalities including Westerly, Stonington, Mystic, North Stonington, Richmond, Hopkinton, and Charlestown. It covers local news, sports (including high school athletics), opinion, obituaries, classifieds, public notices, weather, and community events, distributing content through print home delivery, retail newsstand sales, a digital E-Edition via PressReader, the main website (thewesterlysun.com), email newsletters, and social media channels (Facebook, Twitter, YouTube).

Name

The Westerly Sun

Legal name

Westerly Sun

Website

https://thewesterlysun.com

Company type

Private

Founded year

1857

Operating status

Operating

Headcount range

11–50 employees

Short description

The Westerly Sun is a privately held community newspaper founded in 1857 that serves as the local paper of record for southern Rhode Island and southeastern Connecticut, delivering news, sports, classifieds, and public notices via print, digital, and E-Edition channels.

Ownership category

akta.pro rank

Product category

Local Newspaper Publishing

NAICS

Newspaper Publishers (51311)

SIC

Newspapers: Publishing Or Publishing & Printing (2711)

akta.pro primary industry

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

akta.pro secondary industries

Newsletters & Email-Based News Publishers (B2B/B2C) (MPAJADAJ), Newsstand & Single-Copy Distribution (MPAJAKAC)

Keywords

• Local news publishing
• Newspaper subscriptions
• Display advertising
• Legal notice publishing
• Community news coverage

Headquarters

HQ city

Westerly

HQ country

United States

HQ region

North America

Offices1 record

Markets served

GTM type

B2C

Offering type

Services

Cost components

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

Revenue model

1. Subscription Revenue: Digital-only and print subscriptions with home delivery. Digital subscriptions do not auto-renew; subscribers receive email reminders to renew manually.
2. Advertising: Display advertising on website and print editions. Includes special advertising section with partner organizations like Ocean Chamber and Mystic Chamber.
3. Classifieds: Classified advertising including automotive, public notices, jobs, real estate, and services.
4. Newsstand Sales: Single-copy sales at retail locations.
5. Special Sections: Sponsored content sections including Readers' Choice awards and chamber newsletters.

Pricing tiers

Go-to-market motion1 record

Distribution channels4 records

Marketing channels7 records

Core offering

The Westerly Sun publishes a local newspaper with comprehensive coverage of news, sports, government, schools, community events, obituaries, and opinion for Westerly, Rhode Island and adjacent Connecticut communities. The publication distributes a print edition through home delivery and newsstand sales and operates digital channels including the thewesterlysun.com website, an E-Edition digital replica on PressReader, and daily email newsletters, with revenue generated from subscriptions, advertising, classifieds, and legal notices.

Product overview

The Westerly Sun is a local newspaper offering a unified print and digital news product covering Rhode Island and Connecticut communities. The core product encompasses local news, sports, opinion, and lifestyle coverage distributed through print publication, the E-Edition digital replica, and the website. Additional offerings include classifieds advertising, photo sales, legal notice publishing, and email newsletters. The digital platform supports subscription services for content access.

Differentiator

Problem solved

Functional benefit

Products and services

• The Westerly Sun (Print & Digital Newspaper) Core local newspaper covering news, sports, government, schools, community events, opinion, and obituaries for Westerly, RI and adjacent Connecticut communities including Stonington, Mystic, Charlestown, North Stonington, Richmond, and Hopkinton; distributed via home delivery and newsstand.
• E-Edition Digital replica of the print edition delivered through the global PressReader platform, providing subscribers with replicated page-by-page access to the newspaper.
• Digital Subscriptions Online subscription product providing digital access to news content for readers who do not receive the print edition, with annual billing, email reminders to renew, and account self-management.
• Classifieds Online classified advertising marketplace section covering automotive, public notices, jobs, real estate, and services for regional buyers and sellers.
• Photo Galleries and Photo Sales Photo galleries of local events and sports integrated with SmugMug, allowing readers to purchase news photographs from the publication.
• Special Sections Themed content publications including the Readers' Choice awards, Ocean Community Chamber Directory, and seasonal guides such as Summer Fun, often produced as sponsored sections.
• Legal Notices Publishing Statutory public-notice publishing service that allows filers to search the public-notice archive and place legal notices through the column.us platform.
• Email Newsletters Email newsletter subscriptions that deliver daily local news alerts and curated content to readers who opt in via the website.

Segments3 records

Ideal customer profiles2 records

Technology focussed No

API detail

Has API

No

API docs

API detail

Core technology

AI maturity

App detail

Integration4 records

Partnerships

Five partnerships are on record, tiered core.

• PressReadercoreTechnology or IntegrationPressReader provides the e-edition platform for The Westerly Sun, allowing digital access to the newspaper through their global platform.
• BLOX DigitalcoreTechnology or IntegrationBLOX Digital provides the BLOX Content Management System (CMS) that powers the thewesterlysun.com website.
• Ocean Community Chamber of CommercecoreGTM or Marketing PartnerPartnership for Ocean Chamber Newsletter and Ocean Community Chamber Directory special sections published by The Sun.
• Mystic Chamber of CommercecoreGTM or Marketing PartnerPartnership for Mystic Chamber Newsletter special section published by The Sun.
• Sun Media GroupcoreOthersParent company that handles advertising for the publication.

Scale indicators1 record

Recent moves6 records

Expansion highlights5 records

Direct peers

• The Block Island Times: The Block Island Times is a small community newspaper serving Block Island, Rhode Island. Despite its different scale, it operates the same hyper-local newspaper-of-record model with print editions, classifieds, and local advertising.
• Cape Cod Times: Cape Cod Times is a regional daily newspaper covering Cape Cod, Massachusetts with a comparable mix of print home delivery, digital subscriptions, classifieds, and community-event coverage. It mirrors the small-market regional newspaper business model that The Westerly Sun operates.
• The Day (New London, CT): The Day is a daily regional newspaper serving New London County, Connecticut, directly adjacent to The Westerly Sun's coverage area. Both serve as the primary local newspaper of record for their respective southeastern Connecticut/southern Rhode Island communities with comparable print + digital subscription models.
• The Bulletin (Norwich, CT): The Bulletin is a regional daily newspaper covering eastern Connecticut, operating a similar legacy print + digital subscription model with local news, classifieds, and public notice services. It is one of the closest geographic and product comparables to The Westerly Sun.
• Valley Breeze: Valley Breeze is a family-owned group of weekly community newspapers covering northern Rhode Island and nearby Massachusetts towns. It is highly comparable to The Westerly Sun in size, community focus, print + digital model, and reliance on local advertising and public notices.

Emerging players

• Patch: Patch is a digital-first hyperlocal news network covering thousands of U.S. communities, including several in Rhode Island and Connecticut. It competes directly with The Westerly Sun for local online news readership and small-business digital advertising, representing the digitally-native challenger to legacy community papers.

Broad incumbents

• Providence Journal: The Providence Journal is Rhode Island's largest daily newspaper, serving the same state as The Westerly Sun but with much broader geographic coverage and resources. It represents a larger incumbent operating in the same newspaper-of-record category with overlapping audience and advertiser base.
• Hartford Courant: The Hartford Courant is Connecticut's largest daily newspaper and one of the oldest in the U.S. It is a broader incumbent in the same newspaper category, competing for Connecticut-based regional advertising and audiences that overlap with The Westerly Sun's CT readership.
• Boston Globe: The Boston Globe is a major regional newspaper operating in the broader New England market. While it serves a much larger territory, its digital subscription strategy and regional advertising focus directly overlap with The Westerly Sun's higher-tier audience in southern New England.
• Gannett / USA TODAY Network: Gannett is the largest U.S. local newspaper operator, publishing hundreds of community papers through the USA TODAY Network. It represents the scaled incumbent competing for the same local advertising and subscription dollars as The Westerly Sun, but at vastly greater scale.

Market position

Strengths5 records

Weaknesses5 records

Competitive moat4 records

Customer concentration

• Xx.com/thewesterlysun
• YouTubeyoutube.com/@thewesterlysun8476
• Facebookfacebook.com/TheWesterlySun
• LinkedInlinkedin.com/company/the-westerly-sun

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 Westerly Sun