The Tampa Bay Times, Florida's largest newspaper, on Tuesday, May 3, purchased the Tampa Tribune from Revolution Capital Group, saying it intends to create one financially secure, locally-owned daily newspaper in the Tampa Bay region.
The Tampa Bay Times is a co-owner of the Plant City Times & Observer, and the Tampa Tribune is the owner of the Plant City Courier.
Times chairman and CEO Paul Tash announced the purchase at the Tribune headquarters in downtown Tampa on Tuesday afternoon.
"The continued competition between the newspapers was threatening to both," Tash said in a statement. "There are very few cities that are able to sustain more than one daily newspaper, and the Tampa Bay region is not among them."
Tash did not disclose the purchase price.
The move comes after the Times announced in February it had won a contract to print the Tribune at its plant in St. Petersburg, as well as the Tribune's affiliate publications and its commercial printing contracts.
Q&A: Answers to your questions about the Times' purchase of the Tribune
Jobs
The Times has news and advertising operations in downtown Tampa and Riverview and has produced a Tampa edition of the newspaper since expanding its footprint into Tampa in 1987. Because the papers have duplicate operations in most areas, Tash said there would be job losses at the Tribune. He did not specify a number but said it was likely to be at least 100.
The current full-time staff is about 265. Tribune staffers who are not retained by the Times will continue to be paid for 60 days.
Subscribers
Starting Wednesday, May 4, Tribune subscribers will receive the Tampa Bay Times at their homes. The Times said it will honor all Tribune subscriptions.
Locations
The Times will be available in retail locations where readers purchased the Tribune.
Advertisers
The Times said it will carry all the advertising scheduled for both papers and honor all Tribune advertising contracts. After a brief transition, it will also carry all the comic strips and most puzzles that ran in the Tribune.
Tampa Tribune Name
Tash said the Tampa Tribune name will live on in a twice-weekly local news section for Hillsborough County readers, which will be added to the Times' current Tampa edition. The Tribune section will offer local and neighborhood news including government, business, entertainment and sports news. The section also will include school news, religion news, real estate listings and the reader-generated Hometown Hillsborough feature. It replaces the Times' current once-a-week community sections City Times, Brandon & South Shore Times and North of Tampa.
Website
The Times said it plans to continue operation of the Tribune's website, tbo.com, after a refinement of its content to better complement the Times' website, tampabay.com. Tbo.com readers will be redirected to tampabay.com in the interim, the Times said.