Voice Media Group

Last updated
Voice Media Group
Company type Private
Industry
FoundedSeptember 1, 2012;12 years ago (2012-09-01)
Headquarters
Denver, Colorado
Key people
  • Scott Tobias
  • Stuart Folb
  • Jeff Mars
  • Kurtis Barton
  • Gerard Goroski
Revenue$44.5 million (2024)
Number of employees
296 (2025)
Websitewww.voicemediagroup.com

Headquartered in Denver, Colorado, Voice Media Group (VMG) is a privately held diversified media and technology company dedicated to serving advertisers, business owners and readers nationwide. VMG delivers innovative marketing solutions and dynamic audience engagement, along with impactful storytelling across print, digital, mobile, and emerging media channels, helping businesses reach their target markets with precision and scale. [1]

Contents

VMG's current properties include a digital marketing agency, V Digital Services, a marketing technology company, V Audience Labs, and media outlets Denver Westword , Phoenix New Times , Dallas Observer , Miami New Times , and Broward New Times .

History

VMG was founded in September 2012, when Village Voice Media executives Scott Tobias, Christine Brennan and Jeff Mars announced an agreement to purchase Village Voice Media's papers and web properties from their founders. [2] The classified web site Backpage.com was not part of the sale. [3]

VMG launched the digital marketing agency, V Digital Services, in 2013 and now operates in over 300 cities across the United States. VDS employees over 125 customer-centric analysts and account managers who work with VMG publications and partners around the country to offer digital marketing solutions including organic SEO, paid media, web development and programmatic and pay-per-click advertising. V Digital Services has received several accolades over the years including, Inc. magazine's “Inc. 500 list” [4] of America's fastest-growing private companies in 2019, 2018 and 2017, several Stevie Awards for Sales and Customer Service, [5] and many more.

In 2023, VMG launched the marketing technology company, V Audience Labs. VAL is a first-party data solution that transforms raw information into strategic insights that drive impactful decision-making for businesses. V Audience Labs' technology has already been awarded "The Sammy" by the Business Intelligence Group. [6]

While adding resources to other areas of the business, Voice Media Group has made strategic divestments of some its newspaper properties. On May 6, 2015, VMG announced the sale of Minneapolis City Pages to Star Tribune Media Co. [7] In October 2015, VMG sold the Village Voice [8] in New York City to Pennsylvania newspaper owner Peter Barbey. In October 2017, VMG sold LA Weekly [9] to local owners; the next month, following devastation caused by Hurricane Harvey, it announced that the Houston Press would cease print publication [10] and transition to an online-only entity.

In 2021, Voice Media Group sold the Houston Press to an anonymous buyer. [11]

Awards

VMG's publications have won numerous national journalism awards, including the 2018 George Polk Award [12] for immigration reporting at Phoenix New Times, 2017 Sigma Delta Chi Awards [13] at both Miami New Times and Westword, and the 2014 George Polk Award [14] for sports reporting at Miami New Times.

References

  1. ↑ "Newly Formed Denver Holding Company Voice Media Group To Acquire Village Voice Media Publishing Properties". PR Newswire. 24 September 2012. Retrieved 6 July 2013.
  2. ↑ Ha, Anthony (23 September 2012). "Village Voice Media Execs Acquire The Company's Famed Alt Weeklies, Form New Holding Company". Tech Crunch. Retrieved 27 September 2012.
  3. ↑ Russell, Mallory (24 September 2012). "Village Voice Management Buyout Leaves Backpage.com Behind". Ad Age. Retrieved 27 September 2012.
  4. ↑ "2019 Inc. 5000: The Most Successful Companies in America". Inc. 14 August 2019. Retrieved 14 August 2019.
  5. ↑ "Stevie Awards for Sales and Customer Service". Stevie Awards. 31 March 2022. Retrieved 31 March 2022.
  6. ↑ "2024 Business Intelligence: Product Of The Year". Business Intelligence. 27 August 2024. Retrieved 27 August 2024.
  7. ↑ Ramstad, Evan (6 May 2015). "Star Tribune makes deal to buy alt-weekly City Pages". Star Tribune. Retrieved 6 May 2015.
  8. ↑ Santora, Marc (12 October 2015). "Village Voice Sold to Peter Barbey, Owner of a Pennsylvania Newspaper". The New York Times. Retrieved 12 October 2015.
  9. ↑ Haithman, Diane (18 October 2017). "Voice Media Group Sells LA Weekly to Semanal Media". LA Business Journal. Retrieved 18 October 2017.
  10. ↑ Downing, Margaret (3 November 2017). "The Presses Have Stopped, But the Press Lives On". Houston Press. Retrieved 4 November 2017.[ self-published source ]
  11. ↑ Devadanam, Steven (9 November 2021). "Pioneering Houston alternative media outlet sold to mysterious new owner". CultureMap Houston. Retrieved 8 December 2022.
  12. ↑ Stern, Ray (20 February 2018). "Phoenix New Times Writers Win Polk Award for Exposing Motel 6 Collusion With ICE". Phoenix New Times. Retrieved 20 February 2018.[ self-published source ]
  13. ↑ Cordial, Christine (23 April 2018). "Announcing the 2017 Sigma Delta Chi Award winners". society of professional journalists. Retrieved 23 April 2018.
  14. ↑ Zaragoza, Jason (18 February 2014). "Miami New Times' Tim Elfrink Wins Polk Award". association of alternative news media. Retrieved 18 February 2014.


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