Observer Media Group

Last updated
Observer Media Group
Company typePrivate
IndustryOnline and Print media
Founded1995;29 years ago (1995) [1]
FoundersMatt Walsh
Lisa Walsh [2]
Headquarters,
Area served
Southern Florida
Key people
David Beliles, chairman [2]
Matt Walsh, CEO [1]
Number of employees
120 [2]
Website www.yourobserver.com

Observer Media Group, Inc. is a media company that publishes local newspapers and magazines in the U.S. state of Florida. The company publishes twelve newspapers, three quarterly magazines and maintains six news websites.

Contents

History

Observer Media Groupstarted when Matt Walsh and Lisa Walsh purchased the Longboat Observer in 1995 from Ralph and Claire Hunter with the help of Lisa's parents and a small group of other investors. The Hunters started the Longboat Observer in 1978. [2] [1]

Since then, Observer Media Group established new local newspapers, such as the Sarasota Observer in 2004, and acquired other older newspapers, such as the 100+ year-old West Orange Times in 2014 and Financial News & Daily Record in 2017. [2] [3] [4] OMG maintains journalistic offices in Tampa, Clearwater, Bradenton, Longboat Key, Lakeland, Sarasota, Fort Myers, Naples, New Port Richey, Winter Garden, Lakewood Ranch, Port Charlotte, Palm Coast, and Ormond Beach. [1] The name was changed to Observer Media Group in 2012 from The Observer Group. [1] [5]

Observer Media acquired Pelican Press from Wisconsin-based Journal Media Group in 2011. [6] [7] Pelican Press serves the Siesta Key area of Florida and in 2013, OMG renamed the paper to Siesta Key Observer to fit its overall branding. [2]

In 2012, The Observer attempted to publish the Palm Coast Observer twice a week, on Wednesdays and Saturdays. With a circulation of 25,000, OMG abandoned the idea and returned to a Thursday-only publishing schedule. The move, however, saw circulation increase to 30,000. "At first glance it looks like we may have an overall increase in ad revenue. And lower delivery cost," observed CEO Matt Walsh at the time. "In any business manual it is a wonderful thing to increase revenue and reduce cost at the same time." [8] August 1, 2013, saw the launch of the Plant City Times & Observer with an initial run of 15,000 copies, the publication was sold to a group of local investors in December, 2018. [9]

In 2016, Emily Walsh was named publisher of several of OMG's assets, including East County Observer, Longboat Observer, Sarasota Observer, Siesta Key Observer, YourObserver.com, Season magazine and LWR Life magazine. As the daughter of the founders, Emily Walsh has worked most of her career for OMG. [10]

Publications

As of 2021, Observer Media Group owns twelve newspapers (directly or indirectly), three magazines and six websites in support of the print editions, reaching more than 441,804 readers per week. [2] OMG works with issuu, the largest digital newsstand, to publish online digital copies of its print material.

NameSince Format FrequencyArea servedPaid or free Circulation WebsiteNotes
Business Observer [11] 1997TabloidWeekly Southwest Florida Paid5,269 https://www.businessobserverfl.com/ Formerly known as Gulf Coast Business Review [2]
East County Observer [12] 1998BroadsheetWeekly Sarasota-Bradenton Free24,187 https://www.yourobserver.com/east-county
Jacksonville Daily Record [13] 1912TabloidDaily Jacksonville Paid4,950 https://www.jaxdailyrecord.com/
Longboat Observer [14] 1978BroadsheetWeekly Longboat Key Free11,373 https://www.yourobserver.com/longboat-key First publication owned by OMG
LWR Life [15] 2014MagazineQuarterly Lakewood Ranch Free20,000None, but digital editions available here Partnership with Schroeder-Manatee Ranch, Inc., a land management company [2]
Ormond Beach Observer [16] 2013BroadsheetWeekly Ormond Beach Free6,000 https://www.ormondbeachobserver.com/
Palm Coast Observer' [17] 2010BroadsheetWeekly Palm Coast Free12,000 https://www.palmcoastobserver.com/
Plant City Times & Observer [18] 2012TabloidWeekly Plant City Free13,500 https://www.plantcityobserver.com/ Joint venture with Times Publishing Company [9]
Port Orange Observer [19] 1987 or 2017TabloidMonthly Port Orange Free2,500 https://www.portorangeobserver.com/ July 13, 2017 edition is called "Volume 1, No. 1" so it may be titled same as a defunct paper [20]
Siesta Key Observer [21] 1969BroadsheetWeekly Siesta Key Free5,520 https://www.yourobserver.com/siesta-key Formerly known as Pelican Press [7]
Season [2] 2000MagazineQuarterly Sarasota area Free60,000None, but digital editions available here
Sarasota Observer [22] 2004BroadsheetWeekly Sarasota Free23,157 https://www.yourobserver.com/sarasota
West Orange Times & Observer [23] 1904BroadsheetWeeklyWestern Orange County Free7,407 https://www.orangeobserver.com/west-orange-times-observer
Southwest Orange Observer [24] 2015BroadsheetWeekly Windermere Free7,593 https://www.orangeobserver.com/windermere-observer
Winter Park-Maitland Observer [25] 1989Tall tabloidWeeklySuburbs of Orlando Free12000 https://www.orangeobserver.com/winter-park-maitland-observer

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References

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  6. "Observer buys the Pelican Press". Sarasota Herald-Tribune . June 10, 2011. Archived from the original on December 26, 2017. Retrieved December 26, 2017.
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  8. Tristam, Pierre (September 25, 2013). "Eighteen Months In, Palm Coast Observer Retrenches Back to Once a Week". Flagler Live. Archived from the original on December 22, 2017. Retrieved December 19, 2017.
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  24. "Windermere Observer". Florida Press Association. Archived from the original on December 22, 2017. Retrieved December 19, 2017.
  25. "Winter Park-Maitland Observer". Florida Press Association. Archived from the original on December 22, 2017. Retrieved December 19, 2017.