The Aspen Times

What The Aspen Times does

The Aspen Times is a local newspaper founded in 1881, headquartered in Aspen, Colorado, and serving Aspen, Basalt, Snowmass Village, and the broader Pitkin County area. It publishes a free daily print edition with a stated circulation of 9,000 across the Aspen-to-Carbondale corridor, alongside a digital platform at aspentimes.com that delivers local news, sports, opinion, obituaries, and event coverage. The publication is owned by Swift Communications LLC, a division of Ogden Newspapers, and operates as part of that multi-title local news network.

The company's core products include the Aspen Times Website (primary digital news surface), E-Editions delivered via PageSuite, a daily newsletter subscription product, a classifieds marketplace powered by CMNM, the Colorado Mountain Jobs board, and a portfolio of community magazines (including Best of Aspen, Eat Magazine, and Cycling Magazine). The underlying technology stack is conventional web publishing infrastructure — a CMS-driven website, a digital edition platform (PageSuite), newsletter tooling, and a classifieds engine (CMNM) — with no proprietary technology, no API products, and no disclosed AI/ML components.

The Aspen Times' business model is a hybrid advertising-plus-subscription model typical of small-market newspapers. Print distribution is free, with revenue generated primarily through display advertising, preprints, and classifieds (including the magazine and jobs verticals), supplemented by paid newspaper subscriptions and e-edition access. The customer base is local and predominantly long-tail: small and mid-sized businesses, real estate and tourism advertisers, and individual subscribers in the Roaring Fork Valley, with no named enterprise anchors disclosed.

Name

The Aspen Times

Legal name

Swift Communications, LLC

Website

https://aspentimes.com

Company type

Private

Founded year

1881

Operating status

Operating

Headcount range

251–500 employees

Short description

The Aspen Times is a 145-year-old local newspaper founded in 1881, serving Aspen, Basalt, Snowmass Village, and Pitkin County, Colorado. It publishes a free 9,000-circulation daily print edition and a digital platform offering news, e-editions, classifieds, community magazines, and a local jobs board.

Ownership category

akta.pro rank

Product category

Local Newspaper Publishing

NAICS

Newspaper Publishers (513110), Periodical Publishers (513120)

SIC

Newspapers: Publishing Or Publishing & Printing (2711), Periodicals: Publishing Or Publishing & Printing (2721)

akta.pro industry

PRIMARYMPAJADAB

Local & Regional Newspapers (Print & Digital)

Media, Entertainment & Sports/Publishing (Books, News, Magazines)/News Publishing (Newspapers, Digital Newsrooms, Wire Services)

SECONDARYMPAJAEAO

News, Politics & Current Affairs Magazines

Media, Entertainment & Sports/Publishing (Books, News, Magazines)/Magazine Publishing (Consumer & B2B/Trade Magazines)

Keywords

• Local newspaper publishing
• Digital news media
• Community journalism
• Classified advertising
• Print media distribution

Headquarters

HQ city

Aspen

HQ country

United States

HQ region

North America

Offices1 record

Markets served

GTM type

B2C

Offering type

Services

Cost components

Personnel, Operations, Infrastructure, Marketing or Sales, Others

Revenue model

1. Advertising: The newspaper generates revenue through advertising, including display ads, preprints, and classified advertisements. Terms and Conditions detail advertising services including digital and print placements.
2. Subscriptions: Revenue generated through newspaper subscriptions and e-edition access. Privacy policy mentions subscribing to newspapers as a service offering.

Go-to-market motion1 record

Distribution channels3 records

Marketing channels5 records

Core offering

The Aspen Times publishes a free daily print newspaper (9,000 circulation) and operates an integrated digital news platform for Aspen, Basalt, Snowmass Village, and Pitkin County, Colorado. The company produces and distributes local news, sports, weather, opinion, obituaries, classifieds, e-editions, and community niche magazines, monetized through advertising and subscription products.

Product overview

The Aspen Times is a traditional local newspaper publisher operating both print and digital platforms. The core product is the Aspen Times Website (aspentimes.com) delivering local news coverage. Supporting digital offerings include a Daily Newsletter for email news delivery, E-Editions for digital newspaper replicas via PageSuite, and a Community Magazines collection featuring niche lifestyle publications. The company also operates a Classifieds Marketplace through CMNM and Colorado Mountain Jobs board. The print newspaper has a 9,000-circulation daily distribution from Aspen to Carbondale, while the digital platform covers broader geographic areas including Basalt and Snowmass Village.

Differentiator

Problem solved

Functional benefit

Products and services

• Aspen Times Daily Newspaper (Print Edition)
• Aspen Times Website (aspentimes.com)
• Daily & Breaking News Email Newsletters

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.

• Swift Communications LLCcoreOthersThe Aspen Times is owned by Swift Communications LLC, a division of Ogden Newspapers. Swift Communications provides the digital platform, infrastructure, and corporate governance for the newspaper.

Scale indicators2 records

Recent moves6 records

Expansion highlights3 records

Direct peers

• Summit Daily: Direct peer within the Swift Communications network, covering Summit County (Breckenridge, Frisco, Silverthorne) with nearly identical product mix of daily print, e-editions, niche magazines, and classifieds.
• Sky-Hi News: Colorado mountain-community newspaper covering Grand County (Winter Park, Granby), with a similar local-news, print-plus-digital, and tourism-driven advertising base as Aspen Times.
• Aspen Daily News: Local competitor covering Aspen with a daily print and digital product, directly contesting news coverage, display advertising, and classifieds in the same Aspen/Pitkin County market.
• Glenwood Springs Post Independent: Neighboring Roaring Fork Valley newspaper within the Swift Communications network covering Glenwood Springs, Rifle, and Garfield County — adjacent geography with overlapping coverage area and similar business model.
• Vail Daily: Sibling local newspaper in the Colorado mountains, also owned by Swift Communications/Ogden Newspapers, covering Vail and Eagle County with the same print + digital + classifieds + niche-magazine model.
• Steamboat Pilot & Today: Colorado mountain-community daily newspaper under Swift Communications/Ogden Newspapers, serving Steamboat Springs with parallel print, digital, magazine, and classifieds offerings to Aspen Times.
• The Park Record: Swift Communications-owned Park City, Utah community newspaper covering another affluent mountain-resort market with the same print + digital + niche magazine model.

Broad incumbents

• Lee Enterprises: Large publicly-traded U.S. local newspaper group operating dozens of dailies — represents the broader incumbent business model and competitive set against which Swift/Ogden properties like Aspen Times are benchmarked.
• Denver Post: Colorado's largest regional newspaper and statewide news incumbent — overlaps with The Aspen Times on state/regional news, sports, and lifestyle coverage while competing for regional advertising budgets.

Regional players

• Colorado Public Radio: Regional public broadcaster providing in-depth news coverage across Colorado including the Roaring Fork Valley, competing for audience attention and underwriter dollars in the same geography.

Market position

Strengths5 records

Weaknesses5 records

Competitive moat3 records

Key risks6 records

Key highlights6 records

Customer concentration

• Xx.com/TheAspenTimes
• Facebookfacebook.com/AspenTimes
• LinkedInlinkedin.com/company/aspentimes

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 Aspen Times