Plymouth Live

What Plymouth Live does

Plymouth Live is the digital-first brand of the Plymouth Herald, a regional newspaper serving Plymouth and the surrounding Devon area in South West England. The platform provides hyperlocal coverage of news, sport (with dedicated verticals for Plymouth Argyle football, Plymouth Albion rugby, and other local teams), what's-on events, traffic and travel, business, property, and community affairs, serving residents of Plymouth and Devon as its primary audience.

The core product is a web-based digital news platform hosted at plymouthherald.co.uk, supplemented by mobile-responsive design, mobile apps, email newsletters, a WhatsApp community, and active Facebook and X (Twitter) presences. RSS feed syndication is available across all sections. The platform is operated as part of Reach plc's network of regional UK news brands, sharing back-office, subscription infrastructure (Reachsubs), classifieds (InYourArea), and advertising sales force.

Plymouth Live monetizes through four streams: digital advertising (display, banners, sponsored content), recurring premium subscriptions for exclusive and ad-free content, physical newspaper sales of the Plymouth Herald print edition, and affiliate/referral revenue from marketplace and local business directory listings. Pricing is largely opaque; most content is free with advertising support, and only premium content requires subscription. Distribution is single-country domestic, with no disclosed geographic expansion beyond the Plymouth and Devon footprint.

Name

Plymouth Live

Legal name

Reach plc

Website

https://plymouthherald.co.uk

Company type

Private

Founded year

2021

Operating status

Operating

Short description

Plymouth Live is the digital-first brand of the Plymouth Herald, a Reach plc regional news outlet providing hyperlocal news, sport, and community coverage to residents of Plymouth and Devon in South West England.

Ownership category

akta.pro rank

Product category

Regional Digital News Publishing

NAICS

Media Streaming Distribution Services, Social Networks, and Other Media Networks and Content Providers (516210)

SIC

Services-Advertising (7310)

akta.pro primary industry

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

akta.pro secondary industry

Syndication & RSS/Feed Publishing Platforms (MPACAIAF)

Keywords

• Regional news publishing
• Local journalism
• Digital news media
• Sports news coverage
• Community news

Headquarters

HQ city

Plymouth

HQ country

United Kingdom

HQ region

Europe

Offices1 record

Markets served

GTM type

B2C

Offering type

Digital Commerce or Content

Cost components

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

Revenue model

1. Digital Advertising: Banner advertisements, sponsored content, and display advertising on the website and mobile platforms
2. Subscriptions: Premium digital subscriptions providing exclusive content and ad-free experience
3. Physical Newspaper Sales: Sale of physical copies of the Plymouth Herald newspaper
4. Marketplace and Directory: Featured listings in marketplace and local business directory services

Distribution channels4 records

Marketing channels5 records

Core offering

Plymouth Live is a regional digital news platform serving Plymouth and Devon, UK, publishing local news, sport (with dedicated coverage of Plymouth Argyle, Plymouth Albion, and Plymouth Gladiators), events, traffic and travel, business, property, and community content. It operates as the digital brand of the Plymouth Herald newspaper and is owned by Reach plc. The site distributes content via its website at plymouthherald.co.uk, mobile platforms, email newsletters, social media, WhatsApp communities, and a printed newspaper edition, monetizing primarily through digital advertising with a paid subscription tier for premium content.

Product overview

Plymouth Live is a local digital news platform serving Plymouth, Devon, UK, providing coverage of local news, sport, business, what's on events, traffic and travel, and nostalgia content. The site operates as the digital presence of the Plymouth Herald newspaper and is owned by Reach plc. It offers free news content supported by advertising and subscription options, with RSS feed syndication available.

Differentiator

Problem solved

Functional benefit

Products and services

• Plymouth Live digital news platform Free, ad-supported digital news website and mobile experience providing Plymouth and Devon local news, sport, business, traffic and travel, what's on, and community content for residents of Plymouth and the surrounding Devon area.
• Plymouth Herald newspaper (print edition) Physical newspaper sold via newsagents and subscriptions, providing Plymouth and Devon local news, sport, and community content to print readers.
• Plymouth Live email newsletters Regular email newsletters delivering breaking news alerts, sports updates (including Plymouth Argyle), and featured content to opted-in subscribers across Plymouth and Devon.
• Plymouth Live Marketplace and Directory listings Featured business listings in the Plymouth Live Marketplace and In Your Area Directory, allowing local SMBs to advertise goods, services, and events to the Plymouth and Devon readership.
• Funeral Notices Online funeral-notice service for Plymouth and Devon, allowing families and funeral directors to publish obituaries and death notices and providing an enduring community record.
• Public Notices Statutory and local public notices for Plymouth and Devon, published online via the Reach plc Public Notice Portal.
• Date Locally dating service Hyperlocal online dating service operated under the Plymouth Herald brand, matching users in the Plymouth and Devon area.
• Plymouth Live Argyle and Sport vertical Dedicated vertical section covering Plymouth Argyle Football Club, Plymouth Albion rugby, Plymouth Gladiators ice hockey, and broader UK sport news for Plymouth and Devon football and sport fans.

Segments1 record

Ideal customer profiles2 records

Technology focussed No

API detail

Has API

No

API docs

API detail

Core technology

AI maturity

App detail

Recent moves5 records

Expansion highlights5 records

Direct peers

• Hull Daily Mail: Direct peer — long-established UK regional newspaper with a digital-first brand identity, comparable to Plymouth Live as a mid-size city-focused local news outlet running both print and digital channels.
• Cornwall Live: Direct peer — another Reach plc regional digital news brand serving Cornwall, with comparable offerings (local news, sport, what's on, traffic) and the same revenue model structure. Comparable because it competes for the same South West England audience attention pool.
• Devon Live: Direct peer — sister regional digital news brand operated by the same parent (Reach plc), serving the adjacent Devon geography with the same digital-first, advertising-plus-subscription model and shared national network infrastructure.
• Wales Online: Direct peer — Reach plc's principal Welsh regional digital news brand, comparable in product mix (local news, sport, marketplace, directory) and in its role as a regional hub under the same parent.
• Kent Online: Direct peer — KM Group's flagship regional digital news property serving Kent, comparable in product offering (local news, sport, traffic, what's on) and target audience (regional UK residents) though operated by an independent publisher rather than Reach plc.
• Bristol Post: Direct peer — Reach plc regional digital news brand for the Bristol area, operating the same website-plus-print model with overlapping South West audience and identical monetisation mix.
• Yorkshire Post: Direct peer — long-running UK regional newspaper with associated digital platform, comparable to Plymouth Live in offering combined print-and-digital coverage of a defined UK region with advertising and subscription revenue streams.
• Manchester Evening News: Direct peer — one of Reach plc's flagship regional titles and a structurally identical local digital news property serving Greater Manchester, providing a useful scale benchmark for Plymouth Live's potential.
• In Your Area: Direct peer — Reach plc's hyperlocal community platform explicitly co-branded with Plymouth Live (and all other Reach regional titles), offering news-by-postcode and local services alongside the regional brand; functionally part of the same audience funnel.

Broad incumbents

• BBC News (Local): Broad incumbent — the BBC operates local news pages for Plymouth and Devon that overlap significantly with Plymouth Live's geographic coverage and editorial remit. It is publicly funded, ad-free, and reaches a broader audience, but does not offer community-utility verticals like marketplace or funeral notices at the same depth.

Market position

Strengths5 records

Weaknesses5 records

Competitive moat4 records

Key risks6 records

Key highlights6 records

Customer concentration

• Xx.com/Plymouth_live
• Facebookfacebook.com/plymouthlive
• LinkedInlinkedin.com/company/plymouth-herald

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 Plymouth Live