TAMPA BAY, Fla. – In a move to better describe the newspaper it has already become, the St. Petersburg Times is changing its name to Tampa Bay Times on Jan. 1, 2012.
The Times has become the largest newspaper in Florida by growing its audience throughout the Tampa Bay region. Three-fourths of Times readers live outside St. Petersburg.
The name change also will reinforce the region’s identity, both locally and across the nation, predicts Times chairman and CEO Paul Tash. “We are making an investment in the future of the Tampa Bay region and putting our greatest asset – our good name – behind it,” Tash said.
The Tampa Bay Times will remain independent and locally owned, by the Poynter Institute for Media Studies, based in St. Petersburg. Neighborhood news sections that are published twice a week for southern Pinellas County will be renamed St. Pete Times.
The St. Pete Times Forum in Tampa will be renamed the Tampa Bay Times Forum. It is home to the NHL’s Tampa Bay Lightning, and it will be the site for the 2012 Republican National Convention.
The newspaper’s philanthropic fund, which awards community grants and college scholarships, will become the Tampa Bay Times Fund, Inc.
Times Publishing first used the new name in 2004, when it launched tbt* Tampa Bay Times, a free tabloid for young adults. tbt* will remain free and published as an edition of the Tampa Bay Times.
For more information, go to www.tampabay.com/newname.