NOLA Newspapers To Merge

New Orleans Advocate owners John and Dathel Georges have purchased The Times-Picayune and its nola.com website from Advance Local, which is owned by Advance Local Media, LLC.

The Advocate will publish a seven-day, home-delivered newspaper in New Orleans using the brands and features of both publications. The new paper will debut in June. The two papers’ websites will be merged under the nola.com brand around the same time.

While The Times-Picayune was not for sale, the Georges and Advance Local agreed after recent discussions that this transaction presented the best course to preserve the quality of journalism that both news organizations are known for, and better serve the New Orleans community now and in the future.

“New Orleans has never lost its love for a daily newspaper,” John Georges said. “I want to thank Advance Local for working with us to ensure a strong print and online news company for years to come.”

“Advance Local is very reluctant to leave New Orleans, our talented employees and loyal readers and advertisers,” said Randy Siegel, CEO of Advance Local. “But we are confident that The Advocate will continue our history of excellent local journalism and community service.”

The Advocate will be expanding its New Orleans news, advertising and circulation staff by hiring from current nola.com and Times-Picayune employees and will increase its coverage of suburban communities, sports and arts and entertainment.

Capital City Press also publishes The Advocate in Baton Rouge and the Acadiana Advocate in Lafayette. It was already the state’s largest newspaper and its website, combined with nola.com, will reach more than 8 million viewers per month across the country. The new paper will be printed in Louisiana at The Advocate’s state of the art printing press.

Both Capital City Press and Advance Local are privately held. A purchase price was not disclosed.