Aspen Daily News

What Aspen Daily News does

Aspen Daily News is an independently owned, locally operated daily newspaper serving Aspen and the broader Roaring Fork Valley in Colorado, founded in 1978 by Dave Danforth. The publication positions itself as the only independently owned newspaper in its market, differentiating on local trust and freedom from corporate ownership. Its editorial coverage spans government, schools, sports, arts and entertainment, opinion, obituaries, classifieds, and real estate transactions, with a staff in the 11–50 range.

Name

Aspen Daily News

Legal name

Aspen Daily News

Website

https://aspendailynews.com

Company type

Private

Founded year

1978

Operating status

Operating

Headcount range

11–50 employees

Short description

Aspen Daily News is an independently owned daily newspaper serving Aspen and the Roaring Fork Valley, delivering local news, classifieds, obituaries, and lifestyle content through print, e-Edition, website, newsletters, and video to community residents and local businesses.

Ownership category

akta.pro rank

Product category

Local Newspaper

NAICS

Newspaper Publishers (513110), Periodical Publishers (513120)

SIC

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

akta.pro primary industry

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

akta.pro secondary industries

Newsletter Publishing Platforms (MPACAIAA), News & Content Aggregation Portals (BPAMAAAI)

Keywords

• Local newspaper publishing
• Community journalism
• Daily news coverage
• Print and digital media
• Newspaper advertising

Headquarters

HQ city

Aspen

HQ country

United States

HQ region

North America

Offices1 record

Markets served

GTM type

B2C

Offering type

Services

Cost components

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

Revenue model

1. Subscriptions: Digital and print subscriptions for news access, including membership programs for community support
2. Advertising: Display and classified advertising to local businesses and readers
3. Classifieds and Obituaries: Paid listings for classifieds and obituaries
4. Donations and Membership: Support through Colorado Gives and membership fund programs

Pricing tiers

Go-to-market motion1 record

Distribution channels3 records

Marketing channels5 records

Core offering

Aspen Daily News is an independent daily newspaper that produces and distributes local journalism for Aspen and the Roaring Fork Valley in Colorado. It monetizes its content through print and digital subscriptions, display and classified advertising, paid classified and obituary listings, donations, and a membership program, and distributes the content via a daily print edition, an e-Edition, a website, mobile, multiple email newsletters, social media, and video.

Product overview

Aspen Daily News is an independently owned newspaper serving Aspen and the Roaring Fork Valley. The company operates a unified digital platform comprising its primary news website with article content, opinion columns, sports, and business coverage, complemented by an e-Edition replica of the print newspaper. Additional offerings include email newsletters (Daily Headlines, Breaking News, The Agenda, Sunday Roundup, Local Magazine), classifieds, obituaries, multimedia video content, real estate transaction listings, weather services, a digital membership program, and an online merchandise shop. The publication emphasizes independent local journalism without paywalls or corporate influence.

Differentiator

Problem solved

Functional benefit

Products and services

• Aspen Daily News Website The main digital news platform providing daily local coverage of Aspen and the Roaring Fork Valley, featuring news articles, opinion columns, sports coverage, business news, and multimedia content for local readers.
• e-Edition Digital replica of the print newspaper edition available online for readers who want the print experience on digital devices.
• Digital Membership Paid membership program supporting independent local journalism, offering free access to stories without paywalls for community supporters.
• Classifieds Online marketplace for paid classified advertisements including jobs, real estate, and services in the Aspen and Roaring Fork Valley area.
• Obituaries Paid death notices and obituary listings serving the Aspen and Roaring Fork Valley community.
• Real Estate Transactions Database and listings of property sales and real estate transactions in the Roaring Fork Valley.
• Shop ADN Online store for Aspen Daily News branded merchandise and products.
• Email Newsletters Themed email newsletters including Daily Headlines, Breaking News, The Agenda (civic-focused), Sunday Roundup (weekly recap), and Local Magazine (mountain lifestyle), delivered to subscribers.
• Print Newspaper (Daily Print Edition) Daily print edition of Aspen Daily News distributed throughout Aspen and the Roaring Fork Valley.
• Multimedia Video Content Video news coverage including local updates, event highlights, and documentary-style reporting for the Aspen and Roaring Fork Valley audience.

Segments2 records

Ideal customer profiles2 records

Technology focussed No

API detail

Has API

No

API docs

API detail

Core technology

AI maturity

App detail

Feature3 records

Scale indicators1 record

Recent moves5 records

Expansion highlights5 records

Direct peers

• Sky-Hi News: Weekly newspaper serving Grand County, Colorado, covering Winter Park, Granby, and Fraser. Comparable community newspaper business model in a Colorado mountain market, though smaller and weekly rather than daily.
• Summit Daily News: Daily newspaper serving Summit County, Colorado — another affluent mountain resort community. Comparable in business model, audience characteristics, and editorial scope to Aspen Daily News, though operating in a different but similar Colorado mountain market.
• Steamboat Pilot & Today: Daily newspaper serving Steamboat Springs and Routt County, Colorado. Comparable in size, audience, and editorial mission to Aspen Daily News — a small-market daily covering a resort mountain community with similar reliance on tourism and real estate advertising.
• Aspen Times: Competing daily/weekly newspaper covering Aspen and the Roaring Fork Valley, owned by Swift Communications. Directly comparable local newspaper serving the same affluent mountain community, competing for the same readers, advertisers, and subscribers.
• Glenwood Springs Post Independent: Regional newspaper serving Glenwood Springs and the lower Roaring Fork Valley, adjacent to Aspen Daily News's coverage area. Directly comparable local newspaper with shared geography and overlapping audience, providing civic and community news in a similar mountain setting.
• Vail Daily: Daily newspaper serving Vail and Eagle County, Colorado — a comparable affluent mountain resort community. Same newspaper category, similar revenue model (subscriptions, advertising), and similar audience demographics to Aspen Daily News.

Emerging players

• Block Club Chicago: Independent, membership-supported nonprofit newsroom covering Chicago neighborhoods. Comparable as a modern independent local journalism model funded through reader membership and donations, illustrating the alternative funding model Aspen Daily News is pursuing, though serving a much larger urban market.
• The Colorado Sun: Digital-first, independent statewide Colorado news outlet launched in 2018 by former Denver Post staff. Comparable as an independent journalism model in Colorado but operates at a different geographic scale and is digital-only, making it an emerging alternative for Colorado news consumers rather than a direct local competitor.

Others

• BLOX Digital (TownNews): Technology vendor providing the BLOX CMS platform that Aspen Daily News uses, serving thousands of community newspapers. Industry infrastructure provider rather than a competitor, but represents the broader ecosystem of community newspaper technology and best-practice operations.

Broad incumbents

• Gannett / USA TODAY Network: Largest U.S. newspaper publisher, operating hundreds of local daily and weekly papers including in Colorado (e.g., Colorado Springs Gazette). Broad incumbent competing in the same community newspaper space but lacking the independent, locally-owned character that distinguishes Aspen Daily News.

Market position

Strengths5 records

Weaknesses5 records

Competitive moat3 records

Key risks5 records

Key highlights6 records

Customer concentration

• Xx.com/aspendailynews
• Facebookfacebook.com/aspendailynews
• Instagraminstagram.com/aspendailynews
• LinkedInlinkedin.com/company/adn-newspaper

Revenue estimate

Valuation estimate

Number of profiles

Profiles1 record

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 Aspen Daily News