Newspaper group offers rebranding

Name changes from RiverTown Newspaper Group to RiverTown Multimedia

The Hudson Star-Observer and its sister news organizations are rebranding their division as RiverTown Multimedia.

Individual properties will continue to strengthen their hometown identities while the group’s new name emphasizes that, together, they are much more than simply 10 newspapers operating under the former RiverTown Newspaper Group identity.

Get a glimpse of what RiverTown Multimedia offers by watching a video. at http://www.rivertownmultimedia.com.

“We’re rebranding as RiverTown Multimedia to reflect the changes in our industry,” Division Director/Publisher Steve Messick said.

Readers in both print and online will start noticing the RiverTown Multimedia logo as it takes effect June 6.

“We want to showcase how our digital products and services -- including video, email marketing, mobile web, blogs and social media -- can connect advertisers with our growing audience,” Messick said.

RiverTown Multimedia officials anticipate people will view more than 25 million pages of locally produced content in 2012. The division had 2,276,878 pageviews and 336,804 unique visitors in May alone.

The Hudson Star-Observer’s website had 337,891 pageviews and 58,189 unique visitors last month. The Star-Observer was second highest in pageviews among the eleven reporting properties and was tops in unique visitors.

In addition to the Hudson Star-Observer www.hudsonstarobserver.com, the group includes the New Richmond News, River Falls Journal and Pierce County Herald (Ellsworth) in Wisconsin; Hastings Star Gazette, Farmington Independent, Rosemount Town Pages, Red Wing Republican Eagle, South Washington County Bulletin (Cottage Grove) and Woodbury Bulletin in Minnesota.

In addition, RiverTown Multimedia has the western Wisconsin news outlet www.rivertowns.net.

“We’re moving quickly toward completing the transformation into a 24/7 news organization where our readers connect with us electronically at work, at home and on the go via mobile devices,” said Roger Sievers. He leads the RiverTown Multimedia’s digital products.

“The Star-Observer is more than just a newspaper,” said Editor Doug Stohlberg. “With our multimedia capabilities, we offer news on a daily, or an hourly basis and can provide much more information.

“RiverTown Multimedia websites give us opportunities to present news in several different ways and in timely fashion. The print editions, of course, will continue providing valuable in-depth news and local features to subscribers. We believe our business will continue to be strong and thrive with the ability to offer news on different platforms.”

Messick said, “Our mission is the same, but we do have dynamic new tools helping us deliver the news our community wants. We’ve learned so much and know we can also help equip local businesses with skills for online marketing.”

Rivertown Multimedia is a division of Forum Communications Co.

Tags: business, hudson