Alta Newspaper Group
Company type | Parent Glacier Media (59%) | David Radler (41%) |
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Divisions | Southern Alberta Newspapers TriCube Media |
Alta Newspaper Group Limited Partnership is a Vancouver-based publisher of newspapers in Western Canada and Quebec. It owns three small daily newspapers and more than a dozen weeklies.
Alta, also known as Alberta Newspaper Group and Southern Alberta Newspapers, is one of two Canadian newspaper companies run and partially owned by David Radler, a former business partner of Conrad Black in Hollinger Inc. Hollinger Inc.[1] Both Alta and Continental Newspapers are descendants of Horizon Operations (Canada) Ltd., a company Radler founded at the end of the 1990s.
History
Most of the newspapers that currently make up Alta and Continental were purchased from
The chain, originally called Southern Alberta Newspapers and renamed Alta Group Newspapers, consisted of the former Thomson dailies Lethbridge Herald and Medicine Hat News, and a group of weeklies covering suburban and rural communities in the Lethbridge-Medicine Hat area. The oldest of the weeklies was The Taber Times, which dated to 1907 and had built the chain in the 1970s before being bought out by Hollinger and then Thomson.
In the mid-2000s, Alta purchased three weeklies in southwestern Saskatchewan, and in 2006 it acquired
The company has not made any major acquisitions since 2006, although it has bought out biweekly newspapers that competed with its dailies in Lethbridge[4] and Sherbrooke.[1]
Ownership
As a
In 2006, as part of the deal that added The Record to Alta's holdings, Vancouver-based publisher Glacier Media took a 50% share in Alta. It later increased its ownership share to 59%. Glacier is also part-owner of two other newspaper companies connected with Radler, Continental Newspapers and
Properties
Although the company is headquartered in British Columbia, none of its properties are located there. Alta publishes newspapers in Alberta, Saskatchewan and Quebec. Its sister company Continental Newspapers publishes dailies in British Columbia and Ontario.
Alberta
Two dailies and six weekly newspapers in the Lethbridge-Medicine Hat area were part of the original Southern Alberta Newspapers chain owned by Horizon Operations.[9] The Lethbridge Journal was added in 2011.[4] Together, the following papers cover the cities of Lethbridge and Medicine Hat, the Municipal District of Taber, Cypress County, the County of Forty Mile No. 8 and Lethbridge County:
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Saskatchewan
Alta publishes four weeklies in southwestern Saskatchewan; all but the Prairie Post were added in 2006:[9]
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Quebec
Alta acquired the second-largest English-language newspaper in Quebec, and its associated weekly product, in 2006.[3] It added a competing semimonthly paper in 2009:[1]
- Brome County News (weekly)
- The Record (Sherbrooke) (daily)
- The Townships Outlet (biweekly Tuesdays)
TriCube Media
Most of the websites associated with Alta and Continental properties are credited to TriCube Media, a division of Alta Newspaper Group based in Medicine Hat, Alberta. TriCube Media bills itself as "a full service branding and business development company". In addition to the newspapers, its clients include governments, nonprofits, blogs and private businesses. Services it provides include web design, web hosting graphic design, online advertising and promotions.[10]
References
- ^ a b c d "David Radler, of Conrad Black Infamy, Adds Quebec Paper to Holdings". Editor & Publisher. September 1, 2009. Retrieved March 14, 2012.
- ^ a b "Radler Quietly Building Local Media Empire". National Post. Toronto. July 14, 2007. Archived from the original on March 4, 2016. Retrieved March 12, 2012.
- ^ a b c MacDonald, D. (October 24, 2006). "Radler Returns to His Roots with Purchase of Sherbrooke Record". The Gazette. Montreal. Archived from the original on January 18, 2013. Retrieved March 12, 2012.
- ^ a b Press Release (May 4, 2011). "Lethbridge Journal Has a New Owner". Canadian Newspaper Association. Archived from the original on May 2, 2014. Retrieved March 12, 2012.
- ^ "Newspapers". HorizonPublicationsInc.com. Archived from the original on May 28, 2005. Retrieved March 12, 2012.
- ^ United Press International (September 7, 2011). "Conrad Black Files Suit Against Former COO". UPI.com. Retrieved March 16, 2012.
- ^ "Glacier Media Inc. Annual Information Form" (PDF). SEDAR.com. March 31, 2011. Archived from the original (PDF) on January 16, 2017. Retrieved March 13, 2012.
- ^ Smith, Charlie (March 23, 2009). "Vancouver-Based Glacier Media Posts $28.3-Million Profit". Straight.com. Retrieved March 16, 2012.
- ^ a b Press Release (September 15, 2006). "Glacier Closes Acquisition of ANGLP". Glacier Ventures International Corp. Archived from the original on January 19, 2013. Retrieved March 12, 2012.
- ^ "TriCube Media: About". Archived from the original on 2012-02-12. Retrieved March 16, 2012.