The Montana Standard
The Montana Standard is a daily local newspaper founded in 1876 serving Butte, Helena, Bozeman, and southwest Montana. Owned by Lee Enterprises, it distributes content via print, website, E-edition, mobile apps, podcasts, and newsletters on the BLOX CMS platform.
- Company typePrivate
- Founded1876
- HeadquartersButte, United States
- Headcount51–100
- GTM typeB2C
- OfferingServices
What The Montana Standard does
The Montana Standard is a daily newspaper serving Butte, Helena, Bozeman, and the broader southwest Montana region, in operation since 1876. It is owned and operated by Lee Enterprises (NYSE: LEE), a large publicly traded U.S. newspaper publisher, and runs on the BLOX Content Management System provided by bloxdigital.com as part of the parent's shared technology infrastructure. The publication distributes content across print home delivery, a website at mtstandard.com, an E-edition digital replica, mobile applications for iOS/Android, email newsletters (Daily Headlines and Crime & Courts), podcasts distributed through Apple Podcasts, Google Podcasts, Spotify, and RSS, and active social media channels on Facebook, Twitter/X, LinkedIn, YouTube, and Instagram. The headquarters and newsroom are located at 25 W Granite St, Butte, MT 59701, with a reported employee count of 51–100.
The business model is anchored on recurring subscription revenue — digital-only, print, print+digital bundles, and gift subscriptions — supplemented by local SMB advertising and classifieds/marketplace income (jobs, autos, real estate, public notices, and shopping). Distribution and go-to-market rely on a vertical/segmentation approach targeting local residents of southwest Montana seeking breaking news, crime and courts coverage, high school and college sports (including Montana Tech Orediggers), government and politics, obituaries, lifestyle content, and community event information. The publication also generates ancillary income through affiliate shopping content via Brand Ave. Studios and public notices. No title-level financials are disclosed, and individual publication performance is not broken out in Lee Enterprises' public reporting.
The Montana Standard firmographics
Firmographics- Name
- The Montana Standard
- Legal name
- Lee Enterprises
- Website
- https://mtstandard.com
- Company type
- Private
- Founded year
- 1876
- Operating status
- Operating
- Headcount range
- 51–100 employees
- Short description
- The Montana Standard is a daily local newspaper founded in 1876 serving Butte, Helena, Bozeman, and southwest Montana. Owned by Lee Enterprises, it distributes content via print, website, E-edition, mobile apps, podcasts, and newsletters on the BLOX CMS platform.
- Ownership category
- akta.pro rank
The Montana Standard industry classification
Industry- Product category
- Local Newspaper Publishing
- NAICS
- Newspaper Publishers (513110), Newspaper Publishers (51311)
- SIC
- Newspapers: Publishing Or Publishing & Printing (2711)
- akta.pro primary industry
- Local & Regional Newspapers (Print & Digital) (MPAJADAB)
Keywords
Where The Montana Standard is headquartered
LocationHeadquarters
- HQ city
- Butte
- HQ country
- United States
- HQ region
- North America
Offices1 record
Markets served
The Montana Standard business model
Business model- GTM type
- B2C
- Offering type
- Services
- Cost components
- Personnel, Operations, Marketing or Sales, Technology or R&D, Supply Chain
Revenue model
- Subscription Revenue: The primary revenue stream is subscription-based, including print subscriptions, digital subscriptions, and E-edition access. The newspaper offers various subscription tiers including digital-only, print+digital bundles, and gift subscriptions.
- Advertising: Local businesses advertise through print ads and digital advertising placements. Categories include finance, education, home services, medical, and other local business categories.
- Classifieds and Marketplace: Revenue from classified ads, job listings, auto marketplace, public notices, and shopping sections.
Pricing tiers
| Model | Billing | Price |
|---|---|---|
| Subscription | Monthly | Digital Subscription |
| Subscription | Monthly | Print Subscription |
| Subscription | Annual | Gift Subscriptions |
Go-to-market motion1 record
Distribution channels4 records
Marketing channels8 records
The Montana Standard product offering
Product offeringCore offering
The Montana Standard publishes a daily local newspaper covering Butte, Montana and surrounding southwest Montana communities. It distributes news, sports, crime/courts, government/politics, obituaries, business, education, and lifestyle content through a print home-delivered edition, a primary website, an E-edition digital replica, mobile apps, email newsletters, and podcasts. Content is monetized through consumer subscriptions, display and classified advertising, and public-notice fees.
Product overview
The Montana Standard is a local newspaper serving Butte, Montana and southwest Montana, offering a primary news website with multiple integrated digital products including an E-edition (digital replica of the print edition), mobile applications, podcast content, email newsletters (Daily Headlines and Crime & Courts), classifieds/marketplace, public notices, and shopping content. The publication is part of Lee Enterprises and operates on the BLOX Content Management System.
Differentiator
Problem solved
Functional benefit
Products and services
- The Montana Standard (Print Edition + Digital News Platform) Daily local newspaper covering Butte, Helena, Bozeman, and southwest Montana; includes print home-delivered edition and the primary digital news website (mtstandard.com) offering breaking news, crime, courts, politics, sports, business, education, obituaries, opinion, and lifestyle content.
- E-edition Digital replica of the print newspaper updated daily, allowing subscribers to view the complete newspaper online.
- Mobile Apps Native smartphone and tablet applications offering customized news reading, push notifications, and offline reading access for subscribers.
- Daily Headlines Newsletter Email newsletter delivering daily breaking news headlines directly to subscribers' inboxes.
- Crime & Courts Newsletter Weekly email newsletter focused on local public safety and crime news coverage.
- Podcasts On-demand audio programs (including 'The Ethical Life' and other series) covering news, ethics, and lifestyle topics, available through major podcast platforms.
- Classifieds & Marketplace Online marketplace section featuring job listings, cars for sale, real estate, and general classifieds, monetized via placement fees.
- Public Notices Searchable platform for public legal notices and announcements required by Montana legal publication rules.
- Gift Subscriptions Annual gift-subscription option allowing purchasers to give print + digital access to recipients.
Companies that use The Montana Standard
Customer profileSegments1 record
Ideal customer profiles2 records
The Montana Standard technology and API
TechnologyTechnology focussed No
API detail
- Has API
- No
- API docs
- API detail
Core technology
AI maturity
App detail
Feature1 record
The Montana Standard partnerships and signals
Strategic signalPartnerships
One partnership is on record.
- Lee EnterprisescoreThe Montana Standard is owned and operated by Lee Enterprises, a large U.S. newspaper publishing company. Lee Enterprises provides corporate support, technology infrastructure, and shared services including the BLOX CMS platform.
Scale indicators1 record
Recent moves5 records
Expansion highlights4 records
The Montana Standard competitors and assessment
Company assessmentEmerging players
- Axios Local: Axios Local is an emerging digital local news product from Axios focused on brevity and email-driven distribution. It represents a new model of local news that could compete with The Montana Standard for digital ad budgets and younger subscribers in mid-sized markets.
- Patch: Patch is a digital-only hyperlocal news network covering thousands of U.S. communities. It competes with The Montana Standard for local digital advertising and audience attention in suburban and small-city markets, representing the digital-native evolution of local news.
Direct peers
- Missoulian: The Missoulian is another Lee Enterprises-owned daily newspaper serving western Montana. It operates on the same BLOX CMS, the same parent infrastructure, and follows an identical subscription+advertising business model, making it a near-perfect operational comparable to The Montana Standard.
- Great Falls Tribune: The Great Falls Tribune is a Lee Enterprises-owned daily serving central Montana, sharing the same corporate parent, technology stack, and subscription model. It provides direct comparability for digital subscription performance and advertising yield in similar mid-size Montana markets.
- Lincoln Journal Star: The Lincoln Journal Star is a Lee Enterprises-owned daily in Lincoln, Nebraska with comparable scale and audience. It shares the same BLOX CMS infrastructure and product roadmap, providing direct operational benchmarking for The Montana Standard.
- Bozeman Daily Chronicle: The Bozeman Daily Chronicle is the primary daily newspaper serving Bozeman, Montana — a city explicitly named in The Montana Standard's coverage area. Both compete for the same southwest Montana audience, advertisers, and subscribers with similar print+digital subscription models.
- St. Louis Post-Dispatch: The St. Louis Post-Dispatch is a Lee Enterprises-owned metropolitan daily also built on BLOX CMS. While larger in scale, it shares the same parent, tech stack, and subscription+advertising model, making it a useful upper-bound comparable for digital product development.
- The Bismarck Tribune: The Bismarck Tribune is a Lee Enterprises-owned daily serving Bismarck, North Dakota. It operates the same BLOX CMS, subscription tiers, and product mix as The Montana Standard, making it a strong peer for benchmarking digital subscription penetration and ad revenue mix in similar mid-market U.S. cities.
- Helena Independent Record: The Helena Independent Record is also explicitly named in The Montana Standard's coverage area and is a Lee Enterprises sibling paper. Both cover overlapping Montana state government, politics, and regional news, competing for similar advertisers and readers in central Montana.
Regional players
- Billings Gazette: The Billings Gazette is the largest daily newspaper in Montana, owned by Lee Enterprises' predecessor and now a standalone competitor. It competes with The Montana Standard for state-level news audiences, digital subscribers, and statewide advertising budgets.
Market position
Strengths1 record
Weaknesses4 records
Competitive moat4 records
Key risks6 records
Key highlights6 records
Customer concentration
The Montana Standard social profiles
Digital presenceThe Montana Standard financial estimates
Financial estimateRevenue estimate
Valuation estimate
The Montana Standard leadership team
Management profileNumber of profiles
The Montana Standard funding detail
Funding detailFunding overview
Funding rounds
Investors
Funding detail is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →
The Montana Standard M&A and investment
M&A and investmentM&A
Investments
M&A and investment is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →
Frequently asked questions about The Montana Standard
What does The Montana Standard do?
The Montana Standard publishes a daily local newspaper covering Butte, Montana and surrounding southwest Montana communities. It distributes news, sports, crime/courts, government/politics, obituaries, business, education, and lifestyle content through a print home-delivered edition, a primary website, an E-edition digital replica, mobile apps, email newsletters, and podcasts. Content is monetized through consumer subscriptions, display and classified advertising, and public-notice fees.
Is The Montana Standard a public or private company?
The Montana Standard is a private company. It is classified as corporate owned and is currently operating.
When was The Montana Standard founded?
The Montana Standard was founded in 1876. It employs 51 to 100 people.
Where is The Montana Standard based?
The Montana Standard is headquartered in Butte, United States, in the North America region.
How does The Montana Standard make money?
Three revenue lines are on record. Subscription Revenue is the primary driver. The others are advertising and classifieds and Marketplace.
Who are The Montana Standard's main competitors?
Emerging players on record are Axios Local and Patch. Direct peers are Missoulian, Great Falls Tribune, Lincoln Journal Star, Bozeman Daily Chronicle, St. Louis Post-Dispatch, The Bismarck Tribune and Helena Independent Record. Billings Gazette is listed as a regional player.
Does The Montana Standard have an API?
No public API is recorded for The Montana Standard.
What industry is The Montana Standard in?
The Montana Standard's product category is Local Newspaper Publishing. Its primary akta.pro industry code is MPAJADAB, Local & Regional Newspapers (Print & Digital). Its NAICS code is 513110 and its SIC code is 2711.