The Exponent Telegram

What The Exponent Telegram does

The Exponent Telegram is the daily newspaper of Clarksburg Publishing Company, serving Clarksburg and the broader I-79 Corridor of North Central West Virginia across approximately 12 counties (Harrison, Barbour, Braxton, Doddridge, Gilmer, Lewis, Marion, Monongalia, Preston, Ritchie, Taylor, Tucker, and Upshur). The company publishes two daily editions — the morning Exponent and the evening Telegram — delivered seven days a week through carrier home delivery, motor routes, mail subscriptions to in-state and out-of-state readers, and newsstand single-copy sales. It also operates The Bridgeport News, a wholly-owned weekly community newspaper distributed on Thursdays, and publishes TV Week as a Friday insert. The publication draws national and international content from the Associated Press wire and combines it with extensive local coverage spanning news, sports, births, obituaries, opinions, columns, calendar listings, and letters.

The underlying technology is conventional community-newspaper publishing: a print-first operation supplemented by digital advertising on cpubco.com, with classified ads running for one week online alongside Sunday print publication. There is no mobile app, no API, no SDK, and no documented modern content management system; references to Internet Explorer and Java-based site viewing suggest a legacy web architecture that has not been substantially modernized. Production specifications follow standard newspaper formats (6-column ROP, 9-column classified display, 21-inch page depth). The company also runs a Newspapers in Education (NIE) program supplying interactive newsweeklies to local K-12 classrooms under a Director of Educational Services.

Commercially, The Exponent Telegram derives revenue from four streams: recurring print subscriptions (priced at $161.20 per year for daily-and-Sunday carrier delivery and $204.88 for out-of-state mail delivery), retail and classified display advertising from local and regional businesses, digital advertising on cpubco.com, and newsstand single-copy sales ($0.50 daily / $1.25 Sunday). It serves two principal customer segments: North Central West Virginia residents seeking local news and classifieds, and regional small and mid-sized businesses purchasing advertising. The Bridgeport News contributes incremental weekly advertising revenue. Subscription and advertising pricing is publicly disclosed on the website, and the company is privately held with no disclosed venture or private equity backing.

Name

The Exponent Telegram

Legal name

Clarksburg Publishing Company

Website

https://cpubco.com

Company type

Private

Founded year

1900

Operating status

Operating

Headcount range

51–100 employees

Short description

The Exponent Telegram is a privately held daily newspaper published by Clarksburg Publishing Company, serving Clarksburg and North Central West Virginia with print and digital local news, classified advertising, and a weekly Bridgeport News subsidiary.

Ownership category

akta.pro rank

Product category

Community Newspaper Publishing

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)

Keywords

• Daily newspaper
• Local news
• Print advertising
• Classified advertising
• Community journalism

Headquarters

HQ city

Clarksburg

HQ country

United States

HQ region

North America

Offices2 records

Markets served

GTM type

B2C

Offering type

Services

Cost components

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

Revenue model

1. Print Subscription Revenue: Revenue from home delivery and mail subscriptions for daily and Sunday editions of the Exponent and Telegram newspapers. Subscriptions available in various combinations including Daily & Sunday, Mon-Sat, Daily M-F, Sat & Sun, and Sunday Only.
2. Retail Advertising: Revenue from retail (run-of-press) and classified display advertising placed by local businesses. The Bridgeport News, a weekly subsidiary, also generates advertising revenue.
3. Digital Advertising: Revenue from digital advertising on the newspaper's website cpubco.com. Classified ads also appear on the web for a week.
4. Newsstand Sales: Revenue from single-copy sales at newsstand prices of $0.50 daily and $1.25 for Sunday editions.

Pricing tiers

Go-to-market motion1 record

Distribution channels4 records

Marketing channels4 records

Core offering

The Exponent Telegram is a daily newspaper published seven days a week by Clarksburg Publishing Company, serving North Central West Virginia with local news, sports, and community information. The company also publishes a weekly sister newspaper (The Bridgeport News) and a weekly TV listings insert (TV Week), and sells retail display, classified, and digital advertising to local and regional businesses.

Product overview

The Exponent Telegram is a traditional newspaper publishing operation offering print and digital news products. The core offering is the daily Exponent and Telegram newspapers, supplemented by The Bridgeport News (weekly subsidiary publication), TV Week (programming guide), and digital advertising services. The company also operates a Newspapers in Education (NIE) program for local schools. All products are delivered through carrier home delivery, mail subscription, and newsstand channels.

Differentiator

Problem solved

Functional benefit

Products and services

• The Exponent Telegram (Daily Newspaper Subscription)

Named customers2 records

Segments2 records

Ideal customer profiles2 records

Technology focussed No

API detail

Has API

No

API docs

API detail

Core technology

AI maturity

App detail

Partnerships

One partnership is on record.

• Associated Press (AP Wire)coreTechnology or IntegrationThe Exponent Telegram uses Associated Press wire services for national and international news content, including AP Wire, AP Today in History, and AP Money Wire services. The publication integrates AP content alongside its local news coverage.

Scale indicators3 records

Recent moves6 records

Expansion highlights4 records

Direct peers

• Boone Newspapers: Family-owned operator of community and daily newspapers in small U.S. markets with a multi-state portfolio. Similar ownership profile and small-market operating model.
• Ogden Newspapers: Family-owned publisher of dozens of daily and weekly community newspapers across small and mid-sized U.S. markets. Closely comparable to Clarksburg Publishing Company in ownership style, multi-title community newspaper portfolio, and small-market operating model.
• Adams Publishing Group: Family-owned publisher of daily, weekly, and community newspapers, as well as niche publications, across small and mid-sized U.S. markets. Comparable multi-product community newspaper portfolio.
• Lee Enterprises: Lee Enterprises operates a large portfolio of daily and weekly local newspapers across small and mid-sized U.S. markets, with similar subscription and advertising revenue models. It is the most direct scaled comparable to a multi-publication regional daily like The Exponent Telegram.
• CNHI (Community Newspaper Holdings Inc.): Operates a portfolio of community and daily newspapers in small U.S. markets with a similar multi-title, local-coverage model. Comparable in customer base (local advertisers and subscribers) and product mix.
• Paxton Media Group: Family-owned publisher of community and daily newspapers across the U.S. Southeast and Midwest. Comparable as a regional multi-title newspaper operator with similar subscription/advertising revenue mix.
• West Virginia Media (Charleston Gazette-Mail): Publishes the Charleston Gazette-Mail and other West Virginia newspapers and digital properties. Directly comparable as a regional West Virginia daily newspaper serving a similar in-state audience and local advertiser base.
• The Dominion Post (Morgantown): Daily newspaper serving Morgantown and the adjacent WV markets along the I-79 corridor. Direct competitor for North Central WV reader attention and regional advertising dollars.

Broad incumbents

• Gannett: Largest U.S. newspaper publisher (USA Today, hundreds of daily/weekly community papers). Operates in the same newspaper advertising and subscription markets as The Exponent Telegram but at vastly greater scale and with a more developed digital subscription platform.
• Tribune Publishing: Major U.S. newspaper company operating regional dailies and digital platforms. Competes in adjacent regional markets with overlapping advertiser pools but at much larger scale than a single-market operator.

Market position

Strengths4 records

Weaknesses4 records

Competitive moat3 records

Key risks6 records

Key highlights6 records

Customer concentration

• Xx.com/exponentwvnews
• LinkedInlinkedin.com/company/the-exponent-telegram

Revenue estimate

Valuation estimate

Number of profiles

Profiles6 records

Subsidiaries1 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 The Exponent Telegram