When The Villages Daily Sun launched a nostalgia-driven insert called Classics, they sold out ad space for the entire year and signed up 46 brand-new advertisers. At Lee Enterprises, a partnership with NTVB Media delivered daily “What to Watch” recommendations to more than 200 newspapers, replacing outdated TV grids and giving readers content they actually wanted. For Tom Comi, NTVB’s vice president of content partnerships, those results highlight an industry blind spot. “The average person watches six hours of television a day,” he said. “Newspapers have a tremendous opportunity to be the go-to source on what to watch — and too many are leaving that on the table.”
NTVB Media, headquartered in Troy, Michigan, has been recommending what to watch for more than 70 years. The company owns and publishes TV Guide Magazine, TV Weekly, Channel Guide Magazine, OnDISH, ReMIND magazine and Puzzler. It also operates the entertainment sites TV Insider, ReMIND and Swooon. “We reach more than 30 million TV viewers every month,” Comi said. “Our magazines and digital platforms give newspapers a way to connect readers with what matters most to them — their viewing choices.”
Comi said the model goes well beyond the old-fashioned TV grids. “Those grids cater to a small minority of the viewing population,” he explained. “Replacing them with our daily ‘What to Watch’ recommendations serves 100% of a newspaper’s readership.” He added that NTVB starts every partnership by asking publishers what content void they want to fill. “Are they looking for print content, digital content, a specialty publication, an RSS feed? Tell us what you want, and our content team will do everything we can to meet those needs.” That flexibility has produced results at scale — from major chains like Lee Enterprises to unique community outlets like The Villages Daily Sun. Their stories show how entertainment content can both delight readers and drive measurable revenue.
Lee Enterprises: replacing the grid with recommendations
At Lee Enterprises, one of the nation’s largest local news chains, the partnership with NTVB has modernized entertainment coverage across dozens of papers. “Our readers always have been able to find relevant and reliable TV information in our local news products,” said Jason Adrians, vice president of local news at Lee. “As digital streaming has become prominent, we’ve worked with our friends at NTVB to give our local news subscribers a better idea of what they might really enjoy viewing themselves and where they can find those shows.”
Lee Enterprises Integrating the new product was seamless, Adrians said. “We’ve always saved space in our local news products for a full or half page dedicated to television programming, so the ‘What to Watch’ feature was an easy one to integrate,” he explained. “And the design of the offering is much more appealing to the eye than a traditional grid. That’s the feedback we’ve received from many readers.”
Flexibility has been another benefit. “Like all terrific partnerships, I think both groups have had to be flexible and collaborative,” Adrians said. “The TV landscape is dynamic and there’s just a crazy amount of content available all the time. I don’t know how NTVB keeps up with it all, but they do — and that’s why they’re good for our readers in this day and age.”
Beyond print, Lee and NTVB have also worked together on subscription and advertising campaigns. “We’ve done several ad campaigns where Lee runs quarter-page ads in all of their newspapers to promote TV Weekly magazine,” Comi explained. “In return for the ad space, we pay Lee a commission on every new subscriber we get from the ads. It’s a great way for Lee to bring in additional revenue while also giving their readers a discounted offer to a TV magazine they will love.”
The companies are now exploring digital syndication, with entertainment feeds that would update Lee’s websites daily. “The best part,” Comi said, “is there is no upfront cost. We share revenue from any ads that run on their sites.”
The Villages: nostalgia sells and drives new advertisers
In Florida, The Villages Daily Sun launched Classics, a 24-page nostalgia-driven magazine built around NTVB’s ReMIND magazine and website content. Sales and marketing manager Cory Bollinger said the results were immediate. “We used the product as a new customer development piece,” he explained. “Because they had the content and it’s put together, it was pretty easy for us just to put the ads around. We created three zones in our newspaper market and went after new small-space advertisers. That’s how we were able to capture some new business.”
Within a month, every ad slot was sold for the year. “We have 46 new customers that we can say are a result of Classics,” Bollinger said. “These were all new customers because we made it new customers. It’s hard work, but we’re getting them into 12- to 26-week commitments, showing them value, and building consistency.”
The nostalgia theme resonated deeply with readers. “The content seems to be right in line with our Villages makeup of remembering the good old days,” Bollinger said. “You’ll hear people reminiscing — ‘Oh yeah, I remember Bonanza’ — and it gives you something to talk about more than just everyday business.”
Promotion stretched across platforms. “We pre-promoted it in the newspaper, but we also used our radio station, WVLG,” Bollinger said. “For instance, Elvis was on the cover one week, and our DJ built a whole Elvis show around it. That was really fun.”
Working with NTVB was straightforward. “They made it really easy,” Bollinger said. “I shared with them what I was looking for, and they formatted it. They even created a prototype we pre-printed to sell with. At one point, they built a whole prom section for us from scratch. They’ve been really easy to work with.”
His advice to other publishers is simple. “Nostalgia sells,” Bollinger said. “It gives people something to talk about and it works.”
A partnership model
For Comi, both Lee and The Villages highlight what’s possible when newspapers take TV seriously. “Rather than simply pitching publishers on what we offer, we like to start with: ‘Tell us what content void we can fill and how you would like to run it,’” he said. “The more ways a paper can keep readers engaged, the more likely they are to remain loyal.”
The payoff, he stressed, is not just satisfied readers but new revenue. “Entertainment is universal,” Comi said. “Everyone is watching TV, and newspapers can and should be the ones guiding them.”
Want to grow your revenue & readership?
Contact: Tom Comi
Vice President, Content Partnerships, NTVB Media
703-395-9703 | tcomi@ntvbmedia.com
Sample an issue of The Villages "Classics" Magazine
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