The Hour Newspaper in Norwalk Sold to Hearst

NORWALK, CT - The Hour, the newspaper of record in Norwalk for more than 140 years, has been sold to Hearst, which also acquired the Wilton Villager in the deal, the corporation announced Wednesday.

Terms of the deal were not disclosed, but it included both the digital and print assets of the two publications.

Hearst now owns the major daily newspapers in Fairfield County, CT: The Greenwich Time, The Advocate in Stamford, The Hour in Norwalk, the Connecticut Post in Bridgeport and The News-Times in Danbury. With The Hour, Hearst now owns five daily newspapers, six weekly newspapers and a total of 14 websites focused on Fairfield County.

“Bringing The Hour and the Wilton Villager into our Connecticut group of media assets is a natural fit,” said Hearst Newspapers President Mark Aldam in a statement. “We intend to extend Hearst’s venerable news brand across Fairfield County by deepening coverage of the Norwalk and Wilton communities while offering business customers a more diversified set of media solutions.”

Added Paul Barbetta, group publisher and president of the Hearst Connecticut Media Group, “This is an exciting and positive move for the Hearst Connecticut Media Group. We’re committed to Connecticut and view this acquisition as an opportunity to strengthen our coverage across all of Fairfield County.”

What the acquisition means for current employees of The Hour and Wilton Villager was not disclosed in the Hearst announcement, but the News-Times reports that just over 20 Hour Publishing Co. employees will join the 320 Hearst workers in Connecticut.

John Szefc of W.B. Grimes & Company represented the seller, the Nellie M. Thomas Trust, owner of the Hour Publishing Co.

“It has been The Hour Publishing Company’s privilege to be a part of the Norwalk community for over 100 years,” said Brett Whitton, president of The Hour Publishing Co., in a statement. “I am confident that Hearst will continue our unwavering commitment and loyalty to Norwalk for many years to come.”