Tampa Bay Times, Plant City Observer launch new weekly newspaper

The Tampa Bay Times and the Plant City Observer have created a partnership to publish a weekly newspaper – the Plant City Times & Observer. 

The free weekly newspaper, which will debut in August, will offer local news and advertising to its readers in east Hillsborough County. With a circulation of 15,000 copies each week, the paper will be available in racks and through home delivery. The paper will publish as a free-standing paper and as a section of the Tampa Bay Times in the Plant City area. 

“This partnership will allow us to give Plant City residents an even more robust weekly newspaper,” said Bruce Faulmann, vice president of sales and marketing at the Tampa Bay Times. “And we couldn’t be more pleased to team up with the local ownership group in Plant City and the Observer Media Group in Sarasota. They have done a great job with the Plant City Observer. 

The Times will handle the Times & Observer’s advertising, printing and distribution; the Plant City Observer staff will handle all editorial. 

The launch of the new weekly builds on the Tampa Bay Times’ expansion into Plant City last year, when the Times launched a regional edition on Friday. The Plant City Observer also launched a year ago as a weekly. 

“This new partnership is going to be great for everyone – our readers, our advertisers, the Plant City community and our two companies,” said Matt Walsh, CEO of Observer Media Group Inc. “Combining our respective strengths will allow us to produce for Plant City the best daily newspaper in Florida and one of the best community weeklies in Florida.”