Home Page Media Group, a Brentwood-based publisher of hyper-local news sites for Williamson County as well as the Middle-Tennessee focused Style Home Page, has announced that it is joining forces with Source Local Media of Franklin, the online publisher of Williamson Source and Rutherford Source.
The union will allow both companies to continue to expand their footprint across Middle Tennessee, providing information and marketing services with the combined power of both companies’ news, sports and lifestyle reporting staffs, a bigger sales force, and shared creative and information technology resources.
The merger addresses the largest growing segment in media today, digital media. The two companies together will reach more than 750,000 unique visitors a month in Middle Tennessee.
“Our partners at the Source have the same community-minded vision of providing the news,” said Home Page CEO and publisher Kelly Gilfillan. “We decided we were going to go further and do better things together than we would as competitors. Together we will provide a higher level of service to our customers and to our readers.”
Source also recently began producing TNhighschoolfootball.com, a Middle Tennessee-focused high school football site covering 62 schools in 8 counties, and also partnered with Terry McCormick on the all-new TitanInsider.com, a comprehensive, independent website for Titans fans.
In addition, the combined staffs have begun planning for the region’s most comprehensive high school football coverage, including information on bands, cheerleaders and all that makes the prep football experience unique and popular.
The expected annual page views for the five hyperlocal and three regional web sites add up to about 14 million.
The consolidation will result in the largest editorial staff currently dedicated to Williamson County.
“This partnership will combine two staffs with different and complimentary skill sets,” Home Page Media Group managing editor Mark Cook said. “In a short time readers will notice more depth and more variety in all of our platforms.”
Home Page Media Group started in 2009 with the Brentwood Home Page. Today the staff produces hyperlocal home pages for Franklin, Spring Hill/Thompson’s Station, and Nolensville. Last year the company added Style Home Page, an online magazine about fashion and trends for women and men in Middle Tennessee.
Source Local Media launched in 2012 with WilliamsonSource.com, under the tagline “More of What You Live Here For.”
RutherfordSource.com was added at the beginning of this year, with plans to build out additional brands in Wilson and Sumner Counties yet this year.
Steven Ludwig, who founded Source along with Corey Little, said “When we realized that two of the best hyper-local media companies in America were actually fighting it out here in Middle Tennessee, it didn’t take long to see the upside potential – for us, our customers, and our audiences – that combining forces provides.”
Kip Dodson, a partner at Source, said the merger also anticipates ongoing change in user habits, especially the fact that more than half of all information is now accessed through cell phones.
“Readers get interesting and relevant information and advertisers address their biggest issue, which is reaching their target market on a daily basis,” Dodson said.
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