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WPCNR MEDIA-GO-ROUND. From River Towns Media. December 5, 2019:

Westchester-based River Towns Media LLC, publisher of the River Journal, today announced plans to launch River Journal North, a new monthly publication which will be delivered to every household and business in Peekskill, Cortlandt, and Croton-on-Hudson.

The monthly circulation will be more than 28,000, and when added to the River Journal’s circulation of 20,850, River Towns Media will reach nearly 50,000 households and 107,000 readers in the River Towns from Irvington to Peekskill. The first issue of River Journal North will be published in March 2020.

Alain Begun, Owner and Publisher of River Towns Media LLC, acquired the River Journal and www.riverjournalonline.com in October 2018.

The River Journal has served the Westchester County, NY, river towns of Briarcliff Manor, Irvington, Pocantico Hills, Sleepy Hollow, and Tarrytown for over 21 years. Bucking the national trend of an overall decline in the print media industry, River Towns Media has grown their print advertising 40% in the year since taking over the publication. 

Begun attributes the success of the publication to major changes implemented over the course of 2019, including:

• Increasing the circulation to include 3,100 homes and 590 businesses in Ossining
• Redesigning both the print publication and website (www.riverjournalonline.com)
• Adding new features including Scholar Athlete of the Month, Putting STEM to Work, Local Authors, Local Books, My Westchester and, everyone’s favorite, River Journal Pet of the Month
• Hiring a new editorial, creative, and ad sales team

“In the year since acquiring the River Journal, we’ve made the investment in the resources we needed to improve and grow the product,” said Begun.

“That investment has paid off with an increase of 40% in advertising revenue in the past year. And that ad increase has allowed us to provide even more local editorial coverage than ever before. In fact, we’ve grown the River Journal from an average of 20 pages per issue when we took over to an average of 32 pages per issue for the 2^nd half of 2019. We currently have over 150 adverting partners many of who run in six or more issues. We know those small businesses wouldn’t keep spending money with us if their ads didn’t work.”

According to Begun, the northern-most Westchester River Towns have long-been underserved by local media without having a single publication delivered to homes in those communities.

“River Journal North will be unique in that it will be delivered by USPS free-of-charge to every home and business in Croton-on-Hudson, Peekskill, and all the villages that make up the town of Cortlandt,” said Begun. “We plan to deliver local coverage of the schools, the businesses, the people and personalities, the events, and local politics that make those communities so unique. And we plan to fill key advertising sales and editorial positions with local residents.”

When the River Journal North launches, River Towns Media will reach nearly as many households on a monthly basis as Westchester Magazine The weekly Enterprise prints 25,000 copies per week of their four editions, but those are not delivered to homes but are available at coffee shops, restaurants, and in newspaper vending machines.

“We look forward to serving all the residents and businesses of these thriving communities for many years to come,” said Begun.