Metro Santa Cruz

What Metro Santa Cruz does

Metro Santa Cruz, doing business as Metro Silicon Valley, is a weekly alternative newspaper serving Silicon Valley and the broader South Bay / Bay Area. The publication covers local news and opinion, arts and entertainment, food and drink, cannabis news, astrology, and community events in San Jose, Santa Clara County, and surrounding markets. Its core product is a printed weekly newspaper complemented by a free-content website (metrosiliconvalley.com), a PageSuite-hosted digital e-edition, and an events calendar with submission functionality powered by CitySpark. The editorial franchise includes the long-running "Best of Silicon Valley" annual reader-voted awards, with editions archived from 2010 through 2025.

Metro Santa Cruz is part of the Weeklys network, a privately held California publishing group that also operates East Bay Express, Good Times Santa Cruz, North Bay Bohemian, and Pacific Sun. Revenue is generated through three disclosed streams: traditional newspaper advertising (display ads, classifieds, and legal notices), recurring print and e-edition subscriptions, and sponsored-content placements such as native advertising features. Legal-notice publishing is outsourced to PublishMyNotice, obituary services to Legacy.com, and event listings to CitySpark. The company is privately held with no disclosed funding rounds, headcount, or financial results, and no management team information is publicly available in the source material.

Name

Metro Santa Cruz

Legal name

Weeklys

Website

https://metroactive.com

Company type

Private

Founded year

1985

Operating status

Operating

Short description

Metro Santa Cruz is a weekly alternative newspaper covering Silicon Valley news, arts, entertainment, food, and culture, serving Bay Area readers and local advertisers as part of the privately held Weeklys publishing network.

Ownership category

akta.pro rank

Product category

Local News Media

NAICS

Newspaper Publishers (51311)

SIC

Newspapers: Publishing Or Publishing & Printing (2711)

akta.pro primary industry

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

akta.pro secondary industry

Community, Ethnic & Multilingual News Publishers (MPAJADAG)

Keywords

• Alternative weekly newspaper
• Local news media
• Arts entertainment coverage
• Community journalism
• Event calendar listings

Headquarters

HQ city

San Jose

HQ country

United States

HQ region

North America

Markets served

GTM type

B2C

Offering type

Services

Cost components

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

Revenue model

1. Advertising Revenue: Traditional newspaper advertising including display ads, classifieds, and legal notices for the Silicon Valley market.
2. Subscriptions: Paid subscriptions for print edition and e-edition access.
3. Sponsored Content: Sponsored content placements such as 'How Purple Lotus Keeps It Fresh' and similar native advertising features.

Distribution channels3 records

Marketing channels5 records

Core offering

Metro Silicon Valley publishes a weekly alternative newspaper covering local news, opinion, arts, entertainment, food, drink, cannabis, and community events across Silicon Valley and the South Bay. The publication is delivered in print, through a digital e-edition, and via its website, with content organized into dedicated sections including News & Opinion, Arts & Entertainment, Food & Drink, and an annual Best of Silicon Valley reader-voted awards program.

Product overview

Metro Silicon Valley is a single unified weekly newspaper product that serves Silicon Valley's leading weekly publication covering local news, opinion, arts, entertainment, food, drink, and community events. The publication operates through multiple integrated content channels including its core print and digital newspaper, a news and opinion section, arts and entertainment coverage, dining guides, an annual Best of Silicon Valley awards program, an events calendar with submission capabilities, reader giveaways, and digital e-edition versions. The publication is part of the Weeklys media group which also includes sister publications like East Bay Express, Good Times Santa Cruz, North Bay Bohemian, and Pacific Sun.

Differentiator

Problem solved

Functional benefit

Products and services

• Metro Silicon Valley Weekly Newspaper Silicon Valley's leading weekly alternative newspaper covering local news, opinion, arts, entertainment, food, drink, and events across the San Jose and South Bay region, distributed in print physically and available digitally.
• Metro Silicon Valley E-Edition Digital edition of the Metro publication accessible through the PageSuite online reader, providing remote digital access to the print newspaper's content.
• Best of Silicon Valley Annual Awards Annual reader-voted awards program recognizing the best local businesses, restaurants, services, and attractions in Silicon Valley, with public voting and published rankings each year.

Segments1 record

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.

• WeeklyscoreStrategic or Co-development PartnerParent company and publishing group that owns Metro Silicon Valley along with other regional publications including East Bay Express, Good Times Santa Cruz, North Bay Bohemian, and Pacific Sun. Part of a network of California community weeklies.

Recent moves5 records

Expansion highlights3 records

Direct peers

• Willamette Week: Portland, Oregon alternative weekly with the same format, editorial mix (news, arts, food, music), and advertising-supported business model. A leading comparable for the alternative-weekly category nationally.
• East Bay Express: Sister publication under the Weeklys network, covering Oakland and the East Bay with the same alternative-weekly format covering news, arts, music, and food. Direct comparable in product, business model, and operational footprint.
• LA Weekly: Historic California alternative weekly with a similar editorial mix of arts, culture, food, and local news. Comparable as a regional alternative-weekly operating under a multi-title publishing model.
• Good Times Santa Cruz: Another Weeklys network title serving Santa Cruz County with a weekly alternative newspaper format covering arts, music, food, and community. Direct comparable in product, audience, and revenue model.
• SF Weekly: Long-running San Francisco alternative weekly covering arts, music, food, and local news. Closest direct competitor in the same metro for reader attention and local SMB advertising dollars.
• North Bay Bohemian: Weeklys network sister publication serving Sonoma and Napa counties. Same alternative-weekly format, editorial mix, and advertising model — directly comparable as a regional California community weekly.
• The Stranger (Seattle): Seattle-based alternative weekly with long-form local news, arts, and culture coverage and a similar advertising-plus-events revenue model. Closely comparable in product scope and operational cadence.
• Pacific Sun: Weeklys network publication covering Marin County with a weekly newspaper format. Direct comparable along product, business model, and operational structure.

Broad incumbents

• San Jose Mercury News: Dominant mainstream daily newspaper in the same Silicon Valley / South Bay geography. Competes for the same local advertiser base with a much broader daily-news footprint.
• San Francisco Chronicle: Major regional daily newspaper covering the broader Bay Area, including Silicon Valley. Overlaps with Metro on local news and local advertising, but operates at significantly larger scale and as a daily publication.

Market position

Strengths1 record

Weaknesses4 records

Competitive moat2 records

Key risks5 records

Key highlights6 records

Customer concentration

• Xx.com/metronewspaper
• Facebookfacebook.com/metronews
• Instagraminstagram.com/metrosiliconvalley

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 Metro Santa Cruz