Pending a shareholder vote on Sept. 23, the Dallas Morning News will become the second publisher that the 138-year-old Hearst Corp. has bought in the state of Texas this year.
In February, it snapped up the Austin American-Statesman from Gannett, and while the price of that sale was not disclosed, a source close to the deal told me Hearst paid around $55 million for it.
Following the tie-up, Hearst will own the flagship news operation in each of the four largest metropolitan areas in the second-most populous state in the country. Alongside the Dallas Morning News and Austin American-Statesman, it also owns the San Antonio Express-News and the Houston Chronicle. The Dallas Morning News and Houston Chronicle are two of the country’s largest newspapers by circulation.
In addition to those titles, Hearst acquired San Antonio Magazine in 2023, Austin Magazine in 2024, and—prior to buying the Austin American-Statesman—launched a newsletter startup in Austin, called Austin Daily, which it has since shuttered.