Ohio Community Media

Ohio Community Media
Private
Industry Newspapers
Founded September 3, 2010
Headquarters 4500 Lyons Road,
Miamisburg, Ohio 45342, United States
Area served
 Illinois, Missouri, Ohio
Key people
 Scott T. Champion, CEO
Parent Versa Capital Management
Website ohcommedia.com

Ohio Community Media is an American privately owned publisher of daily and weekly newspapers, primarily in the state of Ohio. It is headquartered in the Dayton suburb of Miamisburg, Ohio, and owned by Philadelphia-based Versa Capital Management.

History

Most of the company's holdings comprise the Ohio core of Brown Publishing Company, a family-owned publisher based in Cincinnati that declared bankruptcy in April 2010. In September of that year, Brown's 14 Ohio dailies and about 50 weekly publications were transferred to Ohio Community Media, a new entity owned by Brown's creditors, in a transaction valued at $21.75 million.[1]

Over the next few months, the new company sold a "mini-empire" of business newsweeklies that Brown had assembled starting in 2007, unloading titles in such far-flung cities as Charleston, South Carolina; Cheyenne, Wyoming; Fort Worth, Texas; and Naperville, Illinois.[2]

Versa completed its purchase of Ohio Community Media for an undisclosed price in May 2011. By this point, the chain consisted of 14 daily newspapers and about 30 weeklies, all in Ohio.[3]

In February 2012, Versa purchased Impressions Media, owner of The Times Leader in Wilkes-Barre, Pennsylvania, and in May of that year it bought four Midwestern dailies formerly owned by Freedom Communications. That purchase included The Lima News in Ohio, as well as dailies in Illinois and Missouri.[4] The four dailies acquired from Freedom were integrated into Ohio Community Media.[5]

Holdings

Ohio Community Media publishes 18 daily newspapers and about 30 weeklies (paid and free), in addition to several free weekly shopper publications.[5][6] The Beavercreek News-Current, now a weekly, was formerly a daily publication.

Illinois

Missouri

Ohio

Central Ohio (Columbus area)

Mid-Ohio (Mansfield area)

Northwest Ohio

Southern Ohio

Western Ohio (Dayton area)

References

  1. ↑ Sanctis, Matt (September 4, 2010). "Judge OKs Sale of Brown Newspapers". Dayton Daily News (via HighBeam Research). Retrieved June 8, 2012. (subscription required)
  2. ↑ "Brown's Biz Journals Now All Sold". NewsInc. (via HighBeam Research). February 14, 2011. Retrieved June 8, 2012. (subscription required)
  3. ↑ "Business Headlines: Local Newspapers Have New Owners". Dayton Daily News (via HighBeam Research). May 21, 2011. Retrieved June 8, 2012. (subscription required)
  4. ↑ Rutz, Heather (May 17, 2012). "Versa Capital Will Purchase The Lima News". The Lima News (Lima, Ohio). Retrieved June 8, 2012.
  5. ↑ 5.0 5.1 Wursthorn, Michael (May 17, 2012). "News Release: Versa Buys Four Papers From Freedom Communications". Dow Jones LBO Wire. Retrieved June 8, 2012.
  6. ↑ "Newspapers". OHComMedia.com. Retrieved June 8, 2012.

External links