Hearst Acquires Print and Digital Assets of The Hour (Norwalk) and Wilton Villager in Connecticut

NEW YORK, NY--(Marketwired - April 13, 2016) -  Hearst has acquired the print and digital assets of The Hour (Norwalk) and Wilton Villager, which will become part of the Hearst Newspapers' Connecticut Media Group. With these two additions, Hearst's Fairfield County media presence includes a collection of five daily and six weekly newspapers, and a total of 14 websites including the Connecticut Post, The News-Times in Danbury, Greenwich Time and The Advocate in Stamford.

The announcement was made by Hearst President and CEO Steven R. Swartz, and Hearst Newspapers President Mark Aldam.

"Bringing The Hour and the Wilton Villager into our Connecticut group of media assets is a natural fit," Aldam said. "We intend to extend Hearst's venerable news brand across Fairfield County by deepening coverage of the Norwalk and Wilton communities while offering business customers a more diversified set of media solutions."

Paul Barbetta, group publisher and president of the Hearst Connecticut Media Group, will oversee business and news operations for the new properties. "This is an exciting and positive move for the Hearst Connecticut Media Group," Barbetta said. "We're committed to Connecticut and view this acquisition as an opportunity to strengthen our coverage across all of Fairfield County."

"It has been The Hour Publishing Company's privilege to be a part of the Norwalk community for over 100 years," said Brett Whitton, president, The Hour Publishing Company. "I am confident that Hearst will continue our unwavering commitment and loyalty to Norwalk for many years to come."

John Szefc of W.B. Grimes & Company represented the seller in the acquisition. 

About Hearst Newspapers
Hearst Newspapers is the operating group responsible for Hearst's newspapers, local digital marketing services businesses and directories. With more than 4,000 employees across the nation, Hearst Newspapers publishes 15 dailies and 36 weeklies, including the Houston Chronicle, San Francisco Chronicle, San Antonio Express-News and Albany Times Union. It also operates digital marketing services and directories businesses under the LocalEdge brand.

About Hearst Connecticut Media Group
Hearst Connecticut Media Group is comprised of five daily newspapers, Connecticut Post in Bridgeport, The News-Times in Danbury, The Advocate in Stamford, The Hour in Norwalk and Greenwich Time, and six weekly newspapers including the Darien News, Fairfield Citizen, New Canaan News, The Greater New Milford Spectrum, Westport News and Wilton Villager. The Group manages 14 websites, including sites for all of its papers, as well as TowerDigitalAgency.com, CTHouseHunter.com and InGearCT.com.

About Hearst
Hearst is one of the nation's largest diversified media, information and services companies with more than 360 businesses. Its major interests include ownership in cable television networks such as A&E, HISTORY, Lifetime and ESPN; majority ownership of global ratings agency Fitch Group; Hearst Health, a group of medical information and services businesses; 30 television stations such as WCVB-TV in Boston and KCRA-TV in Sacramento, Calif., which reach a combined 19 percent of U.S. viewers; newspapers such as the Houston Chronicle, San Francisco Chronicle and Albany Times Union, more than 300 magazines around the world including Cosmopolitan, ELLE, Harper's BAZAAR and Car and Driver; digital services businesses such as iCrossing and KUBRA; and investments in emerging digital and video companies such as BuzzFeed, VICE and AwesomenessTV. Follow us on Twitter @HearstCorp and subscribe to Hearstlink.