The publisher of The South Bend Tribune is selling its publishing division to New York-based GateHouse Media to focus on its broadband and cloud services businesses.
Schurz Communications, a privately held communications company and publisher of 20 regional newspapers, which includes The South Bend Tribune and seven other publications in Indiana, as well as other specialty publications spread across Maryland, Michigan, Pennsylvania and South Dakota, announced the sale Jan. 28. GateHouse Media, one of the largest publishers of locally based print and online media in the country, is expected to assume ownership before the end of March, Schurz Communications said in a statement.
Terms of the deal were not disclosed. Schurz Communications' other Indiana publications being sold include:
- The Times-Mail, Bedford
- The Herald Times, Bloomington
- The Reporter Times, Martinsville
- The Mooresville-Decatur Times, Mooresville
- Notre Dame Insider, South Bend
- Evening World, Spencer
- The Hoosier Topics, Cloverdale
“Our leadership team, board of directors and ownership group are dedicated to helping the company stay true to its roots of fostering communication and connections while charting a successful course for the future,” said Todd Schurz, president and CEO at Schurz Communications. “This is a natural next step forward in our evolution as a company given our mission to help solve challenges by linking people, businesses and communities.”
It's not surprising that Schurz is joining other publishers in selling their newspaper divisions as circulation numbers continue declining. A study released by Pew Research Center in June 2018, which examined U.S. newspaper circulation numbers from 2017, showed combined print and digital circulation was 31 million for weekday and 34 million for Sunday, down 11 percent and 10 percent, respectively, from 2016.
Declines were highest in print circulation, according to Pew Research Center. Weekday print circulation dropped 11 percent and Sunday circulation fell 10 percent.
Schurz said his company will continue to explore investments, which support its commitment to technology and anticipates adding new employees and companies to its portfolio in the near future.
Schurz Communications’ technology focus began with its purchase of four broadband companies and is in process of purchasing a fifth.
In February 2018, Schurz announced that it had acquired a hybrid cloud provider, Online Tech. An additional investment in the cloud infrastructure assets of Neverfail was announced in December 2018.
