Gerald Hawkins

The Tampa Tribune

COMPANY UPDATE, MAY 2016: The Tampa Bay Times, Florida's largest newspaper, purchased the Tampa Tribune from Revolution Capital Group. Tribune subscribers will receive the Tampa Bay Times at their homes. The Times also will be available in retail locations where readers purchased the Tribune. The Times said it will carry all the advertising scheduled for both papers and honor all Tribune subscriptions and advertising contracts. The Times has news and advertising operations in downtown Tampa and Riverview and has produced a distinct Tampa edition of the newspaper since expanding into Tampa in 1987. Because the papers have duplicate operations in most areas, Tash said there would be job losses at the Tribune. He did not specify a number but said it was likely to be at least 100. The current full-time staff is about 265. Tribune staffers who are not retained by the Times will continue to be paid for 60 days. The purchase marks the end of the 121-year-old Tampa Tribune as a daily newspaper. It was started in 1893 when Wallace Stovall moved his existing news operations to Tampa from Bartow, according to Tribune files. Stovall's first Tampa Morning Tribune debuted on March 27, 1893, and became a daily in 1895. The Tribune was sold by longtime owner Media General to California-based Revolution Capital in 2012 for $9.5 million. The investment capital group last July sold the Tribune's headquarters on Parker Street in downtown Tampa for $17.75 million to South Florida developers who plan an apartment complex on the site.