Alabama Media Group

What Alabama Media Group does

Alabama Media Group (AMG) is a Birmingham, Alabama-headquartered private local media company that operates as both a digital news publisher and a full-service digital marketing agency. Founded in 2012 and operating as part of Advance Local Media (owned by Advance Publications/Advance), the company runs AL.com — Alabama's largest news site with roughly 11 million monthly users — alongside digital editions of The Birmingham News, The Huntsville Times, and Mobile Press-Register, plus sub-brands including Reckon (national public-interest journalism), This is Alabama, People of Alabama, It's a Southern Thing, the Alabama Education Lab, the Beat Everyone podcast, and the Red Clay Media film production group. The newsroom of nearly 100 journalists underpins the publishing operation, supported by video producers, digital marketers, sales leaders, and customer experience builders.

The company generates revenue across three streams: (i) digital advertising sold across AL.com, social platforms, and a proprietary weather-triggered campaign automation engine; (ii) recurring digital subscriptions for premium news content and the daily digital editions of the three mastheads; and (iii) professional-services marketing engagements — including custom digital display, social, search, sponsored content, and weather-based advertising solutions — sold to regional advertisers across the Southeast in verticals such as home services, healthcare, financial services, and automotive. Pricing for marketing engagements is quote-based and typically structured as multi-year contracts rather than standardized tiers; subscription pricing is not publicly disclosed.

The marketing-services arm uses a direct-sales go-to-market motion with specialty teams organized by industry vertical, complemented by a consumer direct-to-channel for subscriptions, newsletters, and podcasts. As a privately held subsidiary of Advance Publications, AMG operates without public disclosure of revenue, profitability, or funding rounds; group-level backing and inclusion in the Advance Local Media network — which reaches 58+ million people across more than 20 cities — provides scale advantages in shared technology, audience data, and operational infrastructure.

Name

Alabama Media Group

Legal name

Alabama Media Group

Website

https://alabamamediagroup.com

Company type

Private

Founded year

2012

Operating status

Operating

Headcount range

101–250 employees

Short description

Alabama Media Group is a Birmingham-based local media company operating AL.com (11M monthly users), three digital newspapers, and a full-service digital marketing agency serving Southeast advertisers. It is a private subsidiary of Advance Local Media, owned by Advance Publications.

Ownership category

akta.pro rank

Product category

Local Digital News Media

NAICS

Broadcasting and Content Providers (516), Advertising Agencies (54181)

SIC

Newspapers: Publishing Or Publishing & Printing (2711), Services-Advertising (7310)

akta.pro primary industry

Investigative & Nonprofit News Organizations (MPAJADAF)

akta.pro secondary industries

Full-Service Media Planning & Buying (MPAAABAA), Radio Content Production & Studios (On-air Production, Imaging, Jingles) (MPAIAEAL)

Keywords

• Local news publishing
• Digital media services
• Marketing agency
• News subscriptions
• Digital advertising

Headquarters

HQ city

Birmingham

HQ country

United States

HQ region

North America

Offices1 record

Markets served

GTM type

B2B and B2C

Offering type

Digital Commerce or Content

Cost components

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

Revenue model

1. Digital Advertising: The company operates a digital marketing business serving advertising clients throughout the Southeast, offering marketing solutions across digital, social, search, and traditional media channels
2. Digital Subscriptions: Subscription-based access to digital editions of The Birmingham News, The Huntsville Times, and Mobile Press-Register, as well as premium content on AL.com
3. Marketing Services: Full-service digital marketing agency offering custom marketing solutions, including targeted digital display ads, social media advertising, sponsored content, search marketing, and weather-based advertising campaigns for advertisers

Pricing tiers

Go-to-market motion2 records

Distribution channels5 records

Marketing channels6 records

Core offering

Alabama Media Group is a digital media company that operates AL.com, Alabama's largest news website, along with digital editions of The Birmingham News, The Huntsville Times, and the Mobile Press-Register. The company also operates a full-service digital marketing agency serving Southeast-based home services, financial services, and other regional advertisers.

Product overview

Alabama Media Group operates as a multi-platform media company with a portfolio of news, lifestyle, and marketing service brands. Core products include AL.com (Alabama's largest news site with 11M monthly visitors), digital editions of The Birmingham News, The Huntsville Times, and Mobile Press-Register, plus specialty brands Reckon (public interest journalism), Alabama Education Lab (K-12 education coverage), and Beat Everyone Podcast (Alabama football). The company's lifestyle brands include It's a Southern Thing (Southern culture/lifestyle merchandise), This is Alabama (positive state stories), and People of Alabama (human interest photography). As both a publisher and digital marketing agency, AMG also provides marketing services to Southeast clients and produces the annual American Financial Consumer Report research. The company operates nearly 100 journalists and is part of Advance Local Media, owned by Advance (Condé Nast parent).

Differentiator

Problem solved

Functional benefit

Brands

• AL.com: Alabama's largest news site, providing up-to-the-minute coverage of news from around the state with award-winning investigative reporting and commentary.
• This is Alabama
• People of Alabama
• It's a Southern Thing
• Reckon

Products and services

• AL.com Alabama's largest news website providing statewide news, sports, opinion, and feature content to Alabama consumers and readers.
• Digital News Subscriptions Subscription-based digital access to The Birmingham News, The Huntsville Times, and Mobile Press-Register for individual readers across Alabama.
• Digital Marketing Agency Services Full-service digital marketing agency providing website development, search engine optimization, paid media, programmatic advertising, and AI visibility audits to Southeast regional businesses.
• Weather-Based Ad Targeting Proprietary advertising solution that pairs advertiser messaging with local weather data to drive campaign performance for regional and home services advertisers.
• Newsletters and Podcasts Email newsletters and on-demand podcasts covering Alabama news, sports, and lifestyle topics for subscriber audiences.

Quantifiable outcome

• 4 Pulitzer Prizes awarded to AL.com journalists since 2018
• +4 more outcomes

Named customers3 records

Segments4 records

Ideal customer profiles3 records

Technology focussed Yes

API detail

Has API

No

API docs

API detail

Core technology

AI maturity

App detail

AI capability5 records

Feature1 record

Partnerships

Eight partnerships are on record, tiered minor, major and core.

• Alabama 200minorStrategic or Co-development Partner · 1 January 2021Red Clay Media produced the 'People of Alabama' video and photo series in partnership with Alabama 200 to celebrate Alabama's bicentennial and everyday Alabamians.
• National Education Journalism CollaborativeminorStrategic or Co-development Partner · 1 January 2021Alabama Education Lab collaborated with a national collaborative of education journalists to cover solutions for helping more children read, winning a Headliners Award.
• The Marshall ProjectmajorStrategic or Co-development Partner · 1 January 2020AL.com collaborated with The Marshall Project for the 'Mauled: When Police Dogs are Weapons' investigative series on K-9 units and police dog attacks across America. This partnership broadened the investigation beyond Alabama to national scope.
• The Indianapolis StarmajorStrategic or Co-development Partner · 1 January 2020Partnered with The Indianapolis Star for the police K-9 investigation, combining resources to examine police dog use of force issues in Indiana and Alabama.
• Invisible InstitutemajorStrategic or Co-development Partner · 1 January 2020Collaborated with Invisible Institute for the police K-9 investigation examining use of force issues in Indiana.
• ProPublica Local Reporting NetworkmajorStrategic or Co-development Partner · 1 January 2019Investigative reporter Connor Sheets participated in ProPublica's Local Reporting Network for work on medical debt of Alabama inmates, receiving editorial guidance and support.
• Advance Local MediacoreOthersAlabama Media Group is part of Advance Local Media, which operates leading news and information companies in more than 20 cities reaching 58+ million people. Advance Local includes MLive Media Group, Advance Ohio, NJ Advance Media, Advance Media NY, MassLive Media, Oregonian Media Group, PA Media Group, and Staten Island Media Group.
• AdvancecoreOthersParent company of Advance Local Media and owner of Condé Nast. Alabama Media Group is owned by Advance, which also has ownership stakes in Reddit, Warner Bros. Discovery, and Charter Communications. Advance is one of America's largest media companies.

Scale indicators7 records

Recent moves6 records

Expansion highlights5 records

Emerging players

• Axios: Digital-first national/local news brand with Smart Brevity format and Axios Local market expansions. Comparable in newsletter-driven audience engagement and premium subscription model, but younger and more national.
• The Athletic: Subscription-based national sports journalism outlet with deep local coverage including SEC/Alabama football. Comparable in high-quality subscription journalism and Pulitzer-style sports reporting, but sports-only and global.

Direct peers

• Townsquare Media: Operates local-market digital media, radio stations and digital marketing solutions for SMB advertisers in small and mid-sized U.S. markets. Closest publicly-traded analog combining local content with an agency-style ad business.
• NJ Advance Media: Another Advance Local sibling operating NJ.com and The Star-Ledger digital edition with comparable diversified revenue (ads, subscriptions, agency). Same operational playbook, different geography.
• MLive Media Group: Direct sibling under Advance Local, operating MLive.com as Michigan's largest local news site with a similar digital-first publishing plus marketing agency model. Closest structural analog to AMG within the same parent.
• Advance Ohio (cleveland.com): Advance Local sibling publishing cleveland.com and The Plain Dealer digital edition. Comparable Midwest footprint, similar subscription and digital advertising model, shared corporate parent.
• MassLive Media: Advance Local sibling running MassLive.com and The Republican digital edition for Western Massachusetts. Highly comparable in audience scale, Pulitzer-grade journalism and agency-style advertiser offerings.

Broad incumbents

• Lee Enterprises: Public operator of mid-size U.S. daily newspapers with subscription and digital ad models. Comparable in regional newsroom operations but with print-ad legacy and broader geographic spread.
• McClatchy: Private regional newspaper group (Miami Herald, Sacramento Bee, etc.) operating a similar digital subscription and advertiser model across multiple state markets. Comparable scale and audience strategy.
• Gannett / USA TODAY Network: Largest U.S. local newspaper publisher operating hundreds of regional titles plus USA TODAY. Overlaps with AMG's subscription and ad products at national scale but lacks AMG's Alabama focus.

Market position

Strengths5 records

Weaknesses5 records

Competitive moat4 records

Key risks1 record

Key highlights7 records

Customer concentration

• YouTubeyoutube.com/playlist?list=PLfQHX8et_-_s2iP3grabaEVt_YJCMKzXX
• Facebookfacebook.com/peopleofal
• Instagraminstagram.com/peopleofal
• TikToktiktok.com/@thisisalabama
• Xx.com/ALMediaGrp

Revenue estimate

Valuation estimate

Number of profiles

Profiles4 records

Subsidiaries7 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 Alabama Media Group