The Border Watch

What The Border Watch does

The Border Watch is a regional newspaper and digital news publication serving the Limestone Coast of South Australia and adjacent areas of western Victoria, headquartered at Level 1, 1 Commercial Street East, Mount Gambier. It is operated by SA Today Pty Ltd (ACN 644 311 937), a wholly owned subsidiary of the Star News Group Pty Ltd conglomerate of regional Australian newspapers. The publication covers local news, sport, farming, property, entertainment, government, and business content for communities including Mount Gambier, Naracoorte, Penola, Casterton, Port MacDonnell, Robe, Millicent and Kingston SE.

The core technology stack is a WordPress-based content management system hosting borderwatch.com.au, supplemented by an Issuu-powered digital editions platform, a free email alert registration widget, and the Star News Group's Pic Store photo sales e-commerce platform. Content spans 555+ pages of news and 771 pages of sport, delivered both as a Friday print edition at $3.50 per issue and as an ACCESS PASS digital subscription ($14/month or $168/year, with a 90-day $10 new-subscriber trial).

The business operates a multi-stream revenue model: recurring ACCESS PASS digital subscriptions, one-off print newspaper sales through 60+ retail outlets (Coles, Woolworths, Ampol, BP, newsagencies), display and classified advertising from local SMBs and government entities, transactional Pic Store photo sales, and reader competitions. The go-to-market is a hybrid of direct-to-consumer digital subscription (with free trial and email alert funnel) and direct advertising sales to local businesses, community organizations, and government bodies, supported by cross-promotion across the Star News Group network of 30+ regional publications.

Name

The Border Watch

Legal name

SA Today Pty Ltd ACN 644 311 937

Website

https://borderwatch.com.au

Company type

Private

Founded year

1861

Operating status

Operating

Headcount range

1–10 employees

Short description

The Border Watch is a regional newspaper and digital news publication serving the Limestone Coast of South Australia, operated by SA Today Pty Ltd (a Star News Group subsidiary). It delivers local news, sport, farming and property content via a Friday print edition at $3.50 and a $14/month ACCESS PASS digital subscription.

Ownership category

akta.pro rank

Headquarters

HQ city

Mount Gambier

HQ country

Australia

HQ region

Oceania

Offices1 record

Markets served

GTM type

B2B and B2C

Offering type

Digital Commerce or Content

Cost components

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

Revenue model

1. Digital Subscriptions: Monthly and annual ACCESS PASS subscriptions providing unlimited access to website news content and digital edition newspapers. Subscriptions auto-renew unless cancelled.
2. Print Newspaper Sales: Physical newspaper sales at $3.50 per issue distributed through retail network across the Limestone Coast and surrounding regions.
3. Display and Classified Advertising: Advertising revenue from local businesses, community organizations, and government bodies. Includes display ads, classifieds, and online advertising options with rates based on size and placement.
4. Photo Sales (Pic Store): Sale of photographs taken by company photographers for editorial and journalistic purposes through the Pic Store platform.
5. Competitions and Promotions: Reader competitions with ticket giveaways and promotional partnerships generating engagement and advertising value.

Pricing tiers

Go-to-market motion2 records

Distribution channels4 records

Marketing channels6 records

Core offering

The Border Watch publishes a paid weekly regional newspaper for South Australia's Limestone Coast community, delivered both in print (at $3.50 per issue through 60+ retail outlets) and digitally via an ACCESS PASS subscription ($14/month or $168/year, with a $10/90-day new-subscriber trial) and Issuu-hosted digital editions. Revenue is rounded out by direct B2B display and classified advertising sales, property listings, sponsored In Business content, and event photography sold through the Pic Store platform.

Product overview

The Border Watch is a regional news publication operated by SA Today Pty Ltd, offering a WordPress-based digital news website complemented by paid subscription products. The core offering is the ACCESS PASS subscription model, which provides unlimited access to website news content and digital newspaper editions (available via Issuu). Additional products include a property listings marketplace, photo sales through Pic Store, and email alert services. The publication covers local news, sport, entertainment, farming, SA government, and features affiliated regional publications including Travel Today and Agriculture Today.

Differentiator

Problem solved

Functional benefit

Products and services

• ACCESS PASS Digital Subscription A monthly or annual digital subscription ($14/month or $168/year, with a $10/90-day new-subscriber trial) that gives individual readers of the Limestone Coast unlimited access to borderwatch.com.au news content and digital editions of The Border Watch newspaper.
• The Border Watch Printed Newspaper The weekly paid print edition of The Border Watch, priced at $3.50 per issue, distributed every Friday through more than 60 retail outlets (supermarkets, newsagencies, service stations, convenience stores) across the Limestone Coast and into western Victoria.
• Digital Editions Electronic editions of The Border Watch and affiliated regional publications (Travel Today, Agriculture Today, Valley Magazine) hosted online via the Issuu digital publishing platform, available to ACCESS PASS subscribers.
• Pic Store Photo Sales An online photo commerce platform (picstore.com.au) operated by Star News Group that allows community members to purchase high-quality editorial photographs taken by The Border Watch's photographers at local events and features.
• Advertising Services Print display advertising, online advertising, classifieds and sponsored In Business content sold directly to local businesses, real estate agents, community organisations and government bodies for placement in The Border Watch newspaper and on borderwatch.com.au.

Named customers4 records

Segments4 records

Ideal customer profiles3 records

Technology focussed No

API detail

Has API

No

API docs

API detail

Core technology

AI maturity

App detail

Partnerships

Three partnerships are on record, tiered core and supporting.

• Star News GroupcoreOthersParent company network of regional newspapers across Victoria and Queensland. The Border Watch is part of the Star News Group portfolio alongside SA Today publications, providing cross-promotional opportunities and shared resources across 30+ regional publications.
• SA Today Pty LtdcoreOthersSA Today Pty Ltd (ACN 644 311 937) is the operating company for South Australian regional newspaper publications including The Border Watch, Border Chronicle, The Bunyip, and other SA regional mastheads.
• Pic StoresupportingTechnology or IntegrationPhoto sales platform operated by Star News Group allowing community members to purchase photographs from covered events. Photographs remain intellectual property of the company while providing a commercial photo sales service.

Scale indicators5 records

Recent moves6 records

Expansion highlights5 records

Direct peers

• Warrnambool Standard: Regional daily newspaper serving south-western Victoria with combined print, digital subscription and local advertising offering. Closely comparable audience size and advertiser base to The Border Watch.
• The Advocate (Tasmania): Regional daily serving north-western Tasmania with print, digital subscriptions and classifieds. Comparable regional subscriber base and SMB advertiser dependency as The Border Watch.
• The Ballarat Courier: Regional Victorian daily newspaper covering the Ballarat area with combined print, digital subscription, and advertising offering. Comparable in audience type and local advertiser concentration to The Border Watch.
• The Bunyip: Another SA Today Pty Ltd regional masthead in the same Star News Group portfolio, focused on a regional South Australian community with combined print, subscription, and classified advertising revenue.
• Border Chronicle: Sister publication under SA Today Pty Ltd and Star News Group, also serving a South Australian regional market with print + digital subscription model and local advertising. Operates on essentially the same ACCESS PASS and digital edition stack as The Border Watch.
• The Examiner (Launceston): Regional daily newspaper in northern Tasmania with a similar mix of print circulation, digital subscriptions, and government and SME display advertising. Highly analogous business model to The Border Watch.
• The Murray Pioneer: Independent regional newspaper serving the Murray Bridge / Riverland area of South Australia. Comparable in scale, geography type, and product mix (weekly print plus digital subscriptions) to The Border Watch.
• The Cairns Post: Regional daily newspaper in Far North Queensland covering a single regional market with print, digital subscriptions, and SMB/government advertising. Similar regional-monopoly positioning to The Border Watch.

Broad incumbents

• News Corp Australia: Major Australian media conglomerate owning metropolitan, regional, and national mastheads including The Australian and regional titles. Indirect competitor for national advertisers and a benchmark for digital subscription transition in Australian news.
• Australian Community Media: Australia's largest regional and community newspaper publisher, operating dozens of mastheads across NSW, Victoria, Queensland, and Tasmania. Competes with The Border Watch for both regional readers and local SMB ad spend across overlapping geographies.

Market position

Strengths5 records

Weaknesses5 records

Competitive moat3 records

Key risks6 records

Key highlights7 records

Customer concentration

• Xx.com/BorderWatchNews
• Facebookfacebook.com/borderwatch
• Instagraminstagram.com/theborderwatch/?hl=en
• LinkedInlinkedin.com/company/the-border-watch

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 Border Watch