Pleasanton Weekly

What Pleasanton Weekly does

Pleasanton Weekly is a 501(c)(3) nonprofit local news organization serving the Tri-Valley region of California's East Bay — primarily Pleasanton, Livermore, Dublin, Danville, and San Ramon. Founded in 2000, it is operated as a wholly owned publication of the Embarcadero Media Foundation, a nonprofit that runs a network of seven Bay Area local news outlets. The publication's core product is a weekly print newspaper combined with a digital content platform at pleasantonweekly.com; it also operates as the adjudicated newspaper of record for Alameda County, which gives it monopoly status for publishing legal notices.

The company's revenue model is a hybrid of reader-supported membership, donations, and advertising. Membership tiers are priced at $15/month (Basic), $25/month (Premium, which includes a CEO meet-and-greet), and $144/year (Plus), with members receiving unlimited online access, the members-only Local Scoop newsletter, optional print delivery, and access to six additional Embarcadero Media publications. Advertising revenue comes from employment listings ($66 per column inch in the Friday print edition), legal notices (priced via a published PDF chart), and general sponsorships. Supplemental revenue is generated by periodic special publications such as Seniors Living Well, Luxury Homes Preview, Camp Connection, Real Estate Preview, and Our Neighborhoods. The free Express daily email digest serves as a top-of-funnel acquisition tool for membership conversion.

The audience is a horizontal long tail of local Tri-Valley residents, with a secondary B2B segment of local businesses purchasing employment and legal-notice advertising. State-level coverage is delivered via a syndication partnership with CalMatters rather than internal staff. The operation is small (1-10 employees, professional journalists) and has been recognized with ten first-place California Journalism Awards in 2026, including General Excellence. There are no disclosed AI, API, or mobile app products; the technology footprint is a standard CMS-driven publishing platform with email and social distribution.

Name

Pleasanton Weekly

Legal name

Embarcadero Media Foundation

Website

https://pleasantonweekly.com

Company type

Private

Founded year

2000

Operating status

Operating

Headcount range

1–10 employees

Short description

Pleasanton Weekly is a 501(c)(3) nonprofit local news organization serving Tri-Valley residents of California's East Bay (Pleasanton, Livermore, Dublin, Danville, San Ramon). It publishes a weekly print newspaper, a digital news site, and newsletters, funded by memberships, donations, and advertising.

Ownership category

akta.pro rank

Product category

Local Newspaper Publishing

NAICS

Newspaper Publishers (513110), Newspaper Publishers (51311), 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

• Local news publishing
• Community journalism
• Newspaper subscriptions
• Legal notice publishing
• Digital news media

Headquarters

HQ city

Pleasanton

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, Marketing or Sales, Technology or R&D, Supply Chain

Revenue model

1. Membership Subscriptions: Monthly and annual membership fees providing unlimited online access, print edition option, exclusive newsletters, and member events. Basic tier at $15/month, Premium at $25/month, Plus at $144/year.
2. Donations: One-time or recurring tax-deductible donations as a 501(c)(3) nonprofit organization. Donations support local journalism directly.
3. Advertising: Employment advertising ($66 per Column Inch), legal notices, and general advertising/sponsorships. Employment ads published in print on Fridays.
4. Special Publications: Specialty publications including Seniors Living Well, Luxury Homes Preview, Camp Connection, Real Estate Preview, and Our Neighborhoods.

Pricing tiers

Go-to-market motion1 record

Distribution channels4 records

Marketing channels4 records

Core offering

Pleasanton Weekly is a nonprofit local news organization that publishes a weekly print newspaper and a continuously updated digital news site covering the Tri-Valley region (Pleasanton, Livermore, Dublin, Danville, San Ramon) in Alameda County, California. It is part of the Embarcadero Media Foundation network of seven Bay Area community publications. The organization funds its journalism through tiered reader memberships, tax-deductible donations, and advertising, and it also serves as the adjudicated newspaper of record for Alameda County, publishing legal notices and offering print employment advertising.

Product overview

Pleasanton Weekly is a nonprofit local news organization serving the Tri-Valley region (Pleasanton, Livermore, Dublin, and surrounding areas). The company operates a dual product model combining a print newspaper with digital content platforms. Core offerings include the print weekly newspaper (delivered via mail to members) and unlimited online content access through their website. The subscription business is structured around tiered memberships: Basic ($15/month), Premium ($25/month), and Plus ($144/year), all providing online access plus various member benefits. Editorial products include multiple newsletters (Express daily digest, Local Scoop insider newsletter, Tri-Valley Preps Playbook sports newsletter) and periodic Special Publications covering real estate, seniors, camps, and community topics. The company also operates as an adjudicated newspaper of record for Alameda County, offering legal notice and employment advertising services. Membership provides access to seven Embarcadero Media Group publications across the Bay Area.

Differentiator

Problem solved

Functional benefit

Brands

• Express: Free daily local news digest delivered by email each weekday.
• Tri-Valley Preps Playbook

Products and services

• Print Newspaper Physical weekly newspaper delivered via mail to members, covering local government, schools, sports, real estate, lifestyle, and community events in the Tri-Valley region.
• Online Content Access Unlimited digital access to Pleasanton Weekly news articles, archives, blogs, lifestyle content, sports coverage, real estate listings, obituaries, opinion pieces, and multimedia on the company's website. Free preview is limited to 5 articles per month for non-members.
• Membership Subscriptions Tiered reader memberships providing unlimited online access, print edition option, member-only newsletters, invitations to member events, exclusive giveaways, and access to all seven Embarcadero Media publications. Tiers: Basic at $15/month, Premium at $25/month (adds meet-and-greet with the CEO), and Plus at $144/year.
• Express Newsletter Free daily local news digest delivered by email each weekday, summarizing top stories from Pleasanton Weekly.
• Local Scoop Newsletter Members-only monthly behind-the-scenes newsletter from Pleasanton Weekly included with membership subscriptions.
• Tri-Valley Preps Playbook Weekly email sports newsletter providing in-depth coverage of local high school sports, including season previews, athlete profiles, post-game analysis, and local sports trends.
• Special Publications Periodic themed publications including Seniors Living Well, Luxury Homes Preview, Real Estate Preview, Summer Camp Connection, and Our Neighborhoods Pleasanton, covering specialized local lifestyle and real estate topics.
• Legal Notices Legal notice publication service leveraging adjudicated newspaper of record status for Alameda County, including Fictitious Business Name filings, name changes, probate hearings, and other required public notices. Published in print and digitally each Friday.
• Employment Advertising Print employment advertising service allowing local businesses to publish job listings in the Friday print edition of Pleasanton Weekly at $66 per Column Inch (approximately $8 per line).
• Town Square Forum Free registration-based community forum where users can post comments and engage in discussions on local topics.

Quantifiable outcome

• Ten first-place journalism awards including General Excellence in California Journalism Awards

Named customers1 record

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.

• CalMatterscoreStrategic or Co-development PartnerState news partnership providing California state-level political and policy coverage. CalMatters content is syndicated through Pleasanton Weekly, extending reach of independent nonprofit state journalism to local readers. Partnership provides comprehensive coverage of state issues affecting Tri-Valley community.

Scale indicators2 records

Recent moves6 records

Expansion highlights4 records

Emerging players

• Berkeleyside: Independent nonprofit local news site covering Berkeley and Oakland, operating on a membership/donation model that overlaps Pleasanton Weekly's approach within the broader East Bay local-news ecosystem.

Direct peers

• Voice of San Diego: Nonprofit digital local news organization funded by memberships and donations covering a specific metropolitan region, structurally analogous to Pleasanton Weekly's nonprofit, reader-supported model.
• Mountain View Voice: Another Embarcadero Media Foundation title covering Mountain View with the same hybrid print + digital membership model, offering a directly comparable reader-supported community newspaper operation.
• Danville San Ramon: Embarcadero Media Foundation East Bay title covering Danville and San Ramon, sharing the same operating model, technology stack, and Embarcadero membership bundle.
• Palo Alto Online: Sister publication within the same Embarcadero Media Foundation network, operating the identical nonprofit local-news membership model for a different Bay Area city. The closest functional and operational peer.
• The Almanac (Menlo Park): Embarcadero Media Foundation sister title serving Menlo Park and surrounding communities with the same nonprofit local news and adjudicated legal notice model as Pleasanton Weekly.
• Livermore Vine: Embarcadero Media Foundation publication serving Livermore, operating an essentially identical nonprofit local-news and member-supported business model in an adjacent Tri-Valley city.
• Redwood City Pulse: Embarcadero Media Foundation title covering Redwood City with the same community-newspaper, membership, and adjudicated legal notice model as Pleasanton Weekly.

Broad incumbents

• East Bay Times: Large regional for-profit daily covering the broader East Bay, including the Tri-Valley. Competes for Tri-Valley advertising and reader attention but at metro scale rather than community-nonprofit scale.
• San Jose Mercury News: Major Bay Area regional newspaper that covers Tri-Valley communities as part of a much larger geographic footprint, competing for the same local advertisers and readers but with a fundamentally different scale and ownership model.

Market position

Strengths4 records

Weaknesses4 records

Competitive moat5 records

Key risks5 records

Key highlights6 records

Customer concentration

• Xx.com/pleasantonnews
• Facebookfacebook.com/pleasantonweekly
• Instagraminstagram.com/pleasantonweekly

Revenue estimate

Valuation estimate

Number of profiles

Profiles1 record

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 Pleasanton Weekly