Observer Media Group


Observer Media Group, Inc. is a media company that publishes local newspapers and magazines in the U.S. state of Florida. The company publishes twelve newspapers, three quarterly magazines and maintains seven news websites.

History

Observer Media Group started when Matt Walsh and Lisa Walsh purchased the Longboat Observer in 1995 from Ralph and Claire Hunter with the help of Lisa's parents and a small group of other investors. The Hunters started the Longboat Observer in 1978.
Since then, OMG established new local newspapers, such as the Sarasota Observer in 2004, and acquired other older newspapers, such as the 100+ year-old West Orange Times in 2014 and Financial News & Daily Record in 2017. OMG maintains journalistic offices in Tampa, Clearwater, Bradenton, Longboat Key, Lakeland, Sarasota, Fort Myers, Naples, New Port Richey, Winter Garden, Lakewood Ranch, Port Charlotte, Palm Coast, and Ormond Beach. The name was changed to Observer Media Group in 2012 from The Observer Group.
OMG acquired Pelican Press from Wisconsin-based Journal Media Group in 2011. Pelican Press serves the Siesta Key area of Florida and in 2013, OMG renamed the paper to Siesta Key Observer to fit its overall branding.
In 2012, OMG attempted to publish the Palm Coast Observer twice a week, on Wednesdays and Saturdays. With a circulation of 25,000, OMG abandoned the idea and returned to a Thursday-only publishing schedule. The move, however, saw circulation increase to 30,000. "At first glance it looks like we may have an overall increase in ad revenue. And lower delivery cost," observed CEO Matt Walsh at the time. "In any business manual it is a wonderful thing to increase revenue and reduce cost at the same time." August 1, 2013, saw the launch of the Plant City Times & Observer with an initial run of 15,000 copies, the publication was sold to a group of local investors in December, 2018.
In 2016, Emily Walsh was named publisher of several of OMG's assets, including East County Observer, Longboat Observer, Sarasota Observer, Siesta Key Observer, YourObserver.com, Season magazine and LWR Life magazine. As the daughter of the founders, Emily Walsh has worked most of her career for OMG.

Publications

As of 2017, Observer Media Group owns thirteen newspapers, two magazines and seven websites in support of the print editions, claiming to reach nearly 400,000 readers per week. OMG works with issuu, the largest digital newsstand, to publish online digital copies of its print material.
NameSinceFormatFrequencyArea servedPaid or freeCirculationWebsiteNotes
Business Observer1997TabloidWeeklySouthwest FloridaPaid5,770https://www.businessobserverfl.com/Formerly known as Gulf Coast Business Review
East County Observer1998TabloidWeeklySarasota-BradentonFree23,717https://www.yourobserver.com/east-county
Financial News & Daily Record1912TabloidDailyJacksonvillePaid3,500https://www.jaxdailyrecord.com/
Longboat Observer1978TabloidWeeklyLongboat KeyFree13,373https://www.yourobserver.com/longboat-keyFirst publication owned by OMG
LWR Life2014MagazineQuarterlyLakewood RanchFree20,000None, but digital editions available Partnership with , a land management company
Ormond Beach Observer2013TabloidWeeklyOrmond BeachFree13500https://www.ormondbeachobserver.com/
Palm Coast Observer'2010TabloidWeeklyPalm CoastFree20,000https://www.palmcoastobserver.com/-
Plant City Times & Observer2012TabloidWeeklyPlant CityFree13500https://www.plantcityobserver.com/Joint venture with Times Publishing Company
Port Orange Observer1987 or 2017TabloidMonthlyPort OrangeFree15,000https://www.portorangeobserver.com/July 13, 2017 edition is called "Volume 1, No. 1" so it may be titled same as a defunct paper
Siesta Key Observer1969TabloidWeeklySiesta KeyFree5,520https://www.yourobserver.com/siesta-keyFormerly known as Pelican Press
Season2000MagazineQuarterlySarasota areaFree60,000None, but digital editions available
Sarasota Observer2004TabloidWeeklySarasotaFree23500https://www.yourobserver.com/sarasota
West Orange Times & Observer1904TabloidWeeklyWestern Orange CountyPaid13,131https://www.orangeobserver.com/west-orange-times-observer
Windermere Observer2015TabloidWeeklyWindermereFree16,358https://www.orangeobserver.com/windermere-observer-
Winter Park-Maitland Observer1989Tall tabloidWeeklySuburbs of OrlandoFree12000https://www.orangeobserver.com/winter-park-maitland-observer-