Tampa Tribune Sold To Tampa Bay Times

TAMPA, FL -- After much speculation in recent weeks, the Tampa Bay Times has announced its purchase of The Tampa Tribune.

The deal was announced Tuesday afternoon in a media release issued by the Tampa Bay Times and confirmed in a tweet by TBO.com, the Tribune's online partner.

The deal includes not only the Tribune, but "its related publications," the Times' release noted. The purchase, the Times says, is hoped to give "readers and advertisers in the Tampa Bay region a locally owned newspaper on solid financial footing."

Tribune subscribers will begin receiving copies of the Times on Wednesday, May 4, the release noted. The Times will now include all the advertising for both newspapers.

A sales price for the deal has not been released.

The Tribune banner will be placed on the Times' local news sections published in Hillsborough County on Fridays and Saturdays "to honor the Tribune's history and place in the community," the Times noted.

"The continued competition between the two newspapers was threatening to both," Times' CEO Paul Tash said in a statement. "There are very few cities that can sustain more than one daily newspapers, and the Tampa Bay region is not among them."

The Times has been publishing all of The Tampa Tribune's publications, including The Suncoast News and Highlands Today, since February.

Exactly what will happen to the Tribune's current staff of about 265 people remains unclear. A Times' story on the buyout notes that duplicate operations in most areas will lead to job losses at the Tribune. Tash didn't put a number on it, but said the loss would most likely top 100 people. The Times plans to pay those let go for 60 days, the story noted.

The Tampa Tribune had served the region for 123 years. Revolution Capital bought the Tribune from long-time owner Media General in 2012, before selling the venture to the Times this week.

The Tribune's TBO website will continue in operation, the Times said, but will first undergo a "refinement of its content to better complement the Times' website, tampabay.com," the story said. As that refinement is under way. TBO visitors will be directed to the Times' website.

The Tampa Bay Times has won 12 Pulitzer Prizes in its history and has an average Sunday circulation of 367,936, according to its media release. The Times is owned by the Poynter Institute, a nonprofit organization dedicated to being a world leader in journalism, according to its website.

This is a developing story. Refresh the page for updates as they become available.

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