Urban Milwaukee Purchases Third Coast Daily

ThirdCoastDaily.com, the online arts and entertainment publication has agreed to a purchase by UrbanMilwaukee.com, the online news daily, representatives of both publications announced today. The sale will be effective December 1, 2013.

Third Coast Daily’s owner and publisher John Shannon, who became its owner a year ago, said his goal with the sale was to ensure the publication continues in Milwaukee. “I got involved with Third Coast because I am a supporter of the arts and I felt its coverage of Milwaukee’s cultural scene helped make this a more vibrant city. But I cannot continue to commit the time needed to oversee the publication. I believe Urban Milwaukee has the resources and know-how to maintain and increase the readership of Third Coast.”

Urban Milwaukee president Jeramey Jannene said the company was excited about the acquisition. “Third Coast is a perfect complement to what we do, and will add an  entertainment-oriented website to our daily news coverage. We’d like to salute John Shannon for his work to keep TCD going, as well that of its past editors like Tom Strini, Jon Anne Willow and Matthew Reddin. We aim to build on that legacy. Third Coast will continue as its own site, but under our direction.”

Urban Milwaukee’s publisher Dave Reid said that the publication’s editor Bruce Murphy will also serve as editor of Third Coast. “Since Bruce became editor, our online traffic has grown five-fold. He’s got a strong feel for this city, has previously served as an arts and entertainment editor for publications like Milwaukee Magazine and Isthmus and has won state and national awards for arts writing.”

Said Murphy: “This is a great opportunity. Milwaukee has a rich arts and entertainment scene, with far more to offer than many cities of its size, and we plan to continue the growth of TCD as a publication worthy of the city it covers.”

Shannon has agreed to continue serving as a consultant to TCD. He has long experience in the business world, and is the former owner, president and CEO of Quick Cable Corp. in Franksville, which he sold in 2012 to Minnesota private-equity firm Tonka Bay Equity Partners. Urban Milwaukee was founded in 2008 by Jannene and Reid with a mission of covering city issues and the urban lifestyle. TCD was created by Willow, began as an online publication on March 2009, and succeeded an earlier publication that began in print, Vital Source.