What CherryRoad Media does

CherryRoad Media, Inc. is a privately held U.S. community newspaper operator and publishing technology company headquartered in Parsippany, New Jersey, and owned by the Gulban family through CherryRoad Technologies. Founded in 2020 by CEO Jeremy Gulban, the company acquires and operates local daily and weekly newspapers across 19 states, having built a portfolio of more than 100 publications via roll-up acquisitions from Gannett, Rust Communications, Main Street Media, and Areawide Media between 2021 and 2026.

The company's core technology asset is LocalRoad, a cloud-based circulation, subscription management, and distribution platform originally developed internally to run CherryRoad's own newspaper operations. LocalRoad is now offered as a turnkey B2B SaaS solution to other newspaper publishers, with a disclosed subscription price of $99/month for the circulation system and $29/month for cloud storage and disaster recovery. Supporting service offerings include social media management, SEO, ad management, newsletters, podcasts, and client acquisition services (ABM, growth strategy, analytics).

CherryRoad generates revenue from newspaper subscriptions (print and digital), local and regional digital advertising, and B2B technology services through LocalRoad. Distribution is dual-channel: direct print and digital subscription delivery to local readers in 19 states, and enterprise sales of the LocalRoad platform to independent newspaper groups, anchored by a 2025 services partnership with Ogden Newspapers covering 50+ daily titles.

Name

CherryRoad Media

Legal name

CherryRoad Media, Inc.

Website

https://cherryroad-media.com

Company type

Private

Founded year

2020

Operating status

Operating

Headcount range

11–50 employees

Short description

CherryRoad Media is a privately held U.S. community newspaper operator that owns 100+ local publications across 19 states and sells its LocalRoad cloud-based circulation platform as a B2B SaaS solution to other newspaper publishers.

Ownership category

akta.pro rank

Product category

Community Newspaper Publishing

NAICS

Newspaper Publishers (513110)

SIC

Newspapers: Publishing Or Publishing & Printing (2711)

akta.pro primary industry

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

Keywords

• Community newspaper publishing
• Newspaper circulation software
• Subscription management platform
• Local digital advertising
• Cloud hosting services

Headquarters

HQ city

Marshall

HQ country

United States

HQ region

North America

Offices1 record

Markets served

GTM type

B2B

Offering type

Services

Cost components

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

Revenue model

1. Newspaper Subscriptions: Revenue from print and digital subscriptions across owned newspaper portfolio spanning 19 states, including daily and weekly publications.
2. Digital Advertising: Local and regional digital advertising services for newspaper websites and digital properties, including ad management, targeted content, and campaign services.
3. Technology Services (B2B): LocalRoad platform offered as a services solution to other publishers, providing subscription management and distribution operations for third-party newspaper companies.
4. Cloud Services: Cloud-based storage and disaster recovery services offered to local newspapers and businesses, starting at $29/month.

Pricing tiers

Go-to-market motion2 records

Distribution channels3 records

Marketing channels3 records

Core offering

CherryRoad Media owns and operates a portfolio of more than 100 daily and weekly community newspapers across 19 U.S. states, monetized through print and digital subscriptions and local digital advertising. Underpinning these publications is LocalRoad, a proprietary cloud-based circulation and distribution platform that the company also licenses to other newspaper publishers as a turnkey subscription and distribution solution. Supporting offerings include cloud-based storage and disaster recovery ($29/month), social media management, digital services (websites, SEO, ad management, newsletters, podcasts), and client acquisition services (ABM, market research, analytics).

Product overview

CherryRoad Media operates as a news media publication house offering a portfolio of technology-powered products and services. The core offering is the LocalRoad platform—a cloud-based circulation and distribution system (starting at $99/month) for subscription and distribution operations. This platform is offered as a turnkey solution to other publishers, in addition to powering CherryRoad's own newspaper portfolio. Supporting services include cloud storage and disaster recovery (starting at $29/month), social media management, and comprehensive digital services (websites, creative services, SEO, events, campaigns, ad management, newsletters, targeted content, podcasts). Client acquisition services encompass ABM, Customer 4 Life, growth strategy, market research, SWOT analysis, buyer personas, customer surveys, and analytics. The company owns and operates newspapers across 19 U.S. states.

Differentiator

Problem solved

Functional benefit

Brands

• LocalRoad: Cloud-based circulation and distribution platform for newspaper subscription and distribution operations, originally developed by CherryRoad for its own publishing operations and offered as a turnkey solution for other publishers.

Products and services

• LocalRoad Circulation and Distribution Platform Cloud-based SaaS circulation and distribution platform that powers subscription and distribution operations for daily and weekly newspaper portfolios; originally developed for CherryRoad's own publishing operations and now offered as a turnkey white-label solution to other newspaper publishers.
• Cloud Storage & Disaster Recovery Cloud-based storage and disaster recovery service for files offered to local newspapers and businesses, starting at $29/month.
• Social Media Management Social media management service designed to maximize views for local newspapers and media outlets.
• Digital Services Comprehensive digital services bundle including websites, creative services, SEO, events, campaigns, ad management, newsletters, targeted content, and podcasts for local advertisers and subscribers.
• Client Acquisition Services Growth services bundle including new client acquisition, Account-Based Marketing (ABM), Customer 4 Life, growth strategy, market research, SWOT analysis, buyer personas, customer surveys, and analytics.

Quantifiable outcome

• LocalRoad platform supports 50+ daily newspapers and numerous weeklies for Ogden Newspapers

Named customers2 records

Segments3 records

Ideal customer profiles2 records

Technology focussed Yes

API detail

Has API

No

API docs

API detail

Core technology

AI maturity

App detail

Feature1 record

Partnerships

One partnership is on record.

• Ogden NewspaperscoreTechnology or Integration · 21 November 2025CherryRoad Media and Ogden Newspapers announced a services partnership under which CherryRoad's LocalRoad circulation and distribution platform will power subscription and distribution operations for Ogden's portfolio of more than 50 daily newspapers and associated weeklies. The transition is currently in progress as part of an integration plan developed collaboratively between CherryRoad and Ogden leadership.

Scale indicators2 records

Recent moves6 records

Expansion highlights5 records

Direct peers

• Schurz Communications: Family-owned media company operating newspapers, broadcasting, and digital media. Comparable multi-state legacy media operator with shared private-ownership and community-journalism orientation.
• Adams Publishing Group: Family-owned publisher of community newspapers across multiple U.S. states. Directly comparable as a private, acquisition-led community-newspaper operator with regional clusters.
• Lee Enterprises: Publicly traded community newspaper operator (NYSE: LEE) running ~350 daily and weekly newspapers across the U.S. Directly comparable to CherryRoad as a multi-state community-newspaper consolidator with both subscription and digital advertising revenue.
• Rust Communications: Midwest-focused community newspaper group that sold 9 titles to CherryRoad in 2022. Comparable as a multi-state community-newspaper operator with overlapping geographies (MO, KS, IA, NE).
• Alden Global Capital / MediaNews Group: Hedge-fund-controlled newspaper consolidator with hundreds of community titles. Direct peer in newspaper roll-up economics, though with a more cost-cutting, less technology-investor orientation than CherryRoad.
• Ogden Newspapers: Family-owned publisher of 50+ daily newspapers and associated weeklies. Direct peer on the publishing side and CherryRoad's largest LocalRoad platform customer, making it both a competitor and a flagship B2B client.
• Paxton Media Group: Family-owned media company operating daily and weekly newspapers across the U.S. Comparable mid-sized, private community-newspaper roll-up with similar acquisition-from-distressed-sellers approach.
• Community Newspaper Holdings Inc. (CNHI): Operates a large portfolio of community and daily newspapers across more than 20 U.S. states. Closely comparable to CherryRoad in scale, geographic spread, and acquisition-driven community-newspaper strategy.

Broad incumbents

• Gannett Co. Largest U.S. newspaper publisher (USA TODAY network + hundreds of local titles). Peer because CherryRoad has bought multiple newspaper divestitures from Gannett and operates overlapping publication categories across most of the same states.

Emerging players

• TownNews: SaaS/CMS and circulation platform serving thousands of U.S. newspapers. Comparable as a competing technology platform in the same addressable market as CherryRoad's LocalRoad B2B offering.

Market position

Strengths5 records

Weaknesses5 records

Competitive moat4 records

Key risks6 records

Key highlights6 records

Customer concentration

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&A1 record

Investments

M&A and investment is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

Frequently asked questions about CherryRoad Media