LOCAL NEWS NETWORK'S STORY
Rebuilding Local News: How Local News Network Scales Community-Driven Advertising with AdButler
Quick Overview
Founded
2019
Audience
Local communities, small business owners, and regional audiences in underserved markets
Reach
Expanding across multiple towns with web, mobile, newsletter, and 65+ digital display locations
Ad Model
Local direct-sold advertising + national programmatic (DOOH) integration
Inventory Details
Properties
Website, mobile apps, newsletters, and digital out-of-home (DOOH) screens
Ad Formats
Display ads, video ads, sponsored content, and digital screen placements
Primary Users
Internal publishing, ad operations, and technical teams
Advertisers
Local businesses, regional brands, and national advertisers via exchange partners
What's Next?
Scaling geo-targeting, expanding into OTT/CTV, and growing a nationwide local news network
Rebuilding Local News Through Sustainable Monetization
For over 200 years, local newspapers were the backbone of communities. But in the last two decades, their decline has created more than 1,800 news deserts across the United States.
Millions of people are now left without reliable local coverage, while small businesses have lost one of the most effective ways to reach nearby customers.
Local News Network was built to address both problems.
Founded by Laurie Sigillito in Durango, Colorado, the company delivers free, video-first local news across websites, mobile apps, newsletters, social media, and digital screens placed in high-traffic public locations.
What began as a local initiative has evolved into a scalable media and technology platform designed to reconnect communities, modernize local journalism, and create new advertising opportunities for local businesses.
But building sustainable local journalism requires more than great content. It requires a monetization infrastructure capable of scaling across channels, communities, and advertising models.
The challenge became clear: how do you fund free, community-driven news while creating real value for advertisers?
The Challenge
As Local News Network expanded into additional towns and distribution channels, managing advertising operations became increasingly complex. The organization needed to:
Scale ad operations across multiple towns and platforms
Manage campaigns across web, mobile, newsletters, and physical screens
Support both local direct advertisers and national demand sources
Reduce operational overhead and duplicate workflows
Avoid fragmented reporting and disconnected systems
"We had websites, newsletters, mobile apps, and digital screens—all growing. But managing ads across each separately just wasn't sustainable."
Laurie Sigillito
Founder & CEO, Local News Network
At the same time, the team wanted to preserve local advertising value.
"Local businesses are sending money to Silicon Valley to reach their neighbors. That shouldn't be the case."
Laurie Sigillito
Founder & CEO, Local News Network
Local News Network needed a solution that could centralize monetization while still supporting local-first advertising.
The Solution: A Flexible Ad Infrastructure Built on AdButler
Local News Network implemented AdButler as the centralized ad-serving and monetization layer across its ecosystem.
Initially adopted for basic ad placement, AdButler evolved into a core infrastructure component powering:
Cross-channel ad management
Geo-targeted advertising by town and region
Centralized campaign trafficking
Unified inventory delivery across web, mobile, newsletters, and DOOH screens
Dynamic routing between local and national demand sources
"AdButler started as a simple tool to place ads, but it's become much more. It gives us flexibility and opens up new opportunities."
Laurie Sigillito
Founder & CEO, Local News Network
By consolidating operations into a single ad-serving workflow, Local News Network created a scalable foundation for future expansion.
Bridging Local and National Advertising with ScrnNow
To unlock additional revenue opportunities, Local News Network integrated its digital screen network with ScrnNow, a platform that connects DOOH inventory to national advertising demand.
Rather than replacing existing systems, the company used AdButler as a middleware and decisioning layer.
How the Workflow Operates
This architecture enabled Local News Network to:
Preserve local advertising inventory
Monetize unused screen inventory with national demand
Avoid rebuilding its existing infrastructure
Maintain centralized campaign control
"AdButler became the bridge between our system and ScrnNow. It allowed us to tap into national ads without rebuilding everything."
Laurie Sigillito
Founder & CEO, Local News Network
Expanding into Digital Out-of-Home (DOOH)
One of Local News Network's most innovative growth channels is its expanding digital out-of-home network. The company currently operates approximately 65 digital displays across multiple towns in locations such as banks, restaurants, airports, DMVs, and public buildings.
These screens deliver:
Short-form local news content
Community updates
Local business advertising
National DOOH campaigns
"We're turning everyday spaces into local news hubs. People might come for a transaction—but they stay engaged with what's happening in their community."
Laurie Sigillito
Founder & CEO, Local News Network
To maintain engagement and viewer retention, the network balances content and monetization carefully: roughly 60% community-focused content and 40% advertising. This approach allows Local News Network to generate sustainable advertising revenue while preserving a positive viewer experience.
Key Outcomes
Unified Cross-Channel Monetization
With AdButler as a centralized infrastructure layer, Local News Network now manages advertising across websites, mobile applications, newsletters, and digital display screens—all from a unified ad-serving workflow.
New National Revenue Streams
Through ScrnNow integration, Local News Network gained access to:
National DOOH advertisers
Programmatic demand sources
Monetization for previously underutilized inventory
Passive revenue opportunities across screen inventory
Increased Local Advertising Value
National advertising presence helped elevate the perceived value of local placements.
"Even if national ads don't pay the most, they raise the value of local placements."
Laurie Sigillito
Founder & CEO, Local News Network
Scalable Expansion Infrastructure
With centralized ad management and geo-targeting capabilities, Local News Network now has the operational foundation to scale into hundreds of towns, additional distribution channels, OTT and CTV environments, and nationwide local news syndication.
A Different Approach to Local News
Local News Network is not focused on traditional breaking-news cycles. Instead, the platform emphasizes:
Positive local storytelling
Community engagement
Accessible short-form video content
Modern distribution channels
"We're not chasing breaking news—we're building connections. Our content celebrates communities."
Laurie Sigillito
Founder & CEO, Local News Network
This community-first strategy helps drive audience engagement while creating stronger alignment between local advertisers and local audiences.
Looking Ahead
Local News Network's roadmap includes continued expansion across both media and advertising infrastructure.
Advanced Geo-Targeting
The company plans to deliver increasingly localized advertising experiences based on user-selected locations, community-level relevance, and regional content preferences.
OTT and CTV Expansion
Future initiatives include exploring streaming distribution channels such as local OTT news channels, connected TV inventory, and expanded video advertising opportunities.
Nationwide Scale
The long-term vision is to build a scalable local news platform capable of supporting communities across the United States.
"We're building technology that can scale anywhere—but our mission is to rebuild local news."
Laurie Sigillito
Founder & CEO, Local News Network
The Bigger Vision
At its core, Local News Network is rethinking the economics of local media. The company's model combines:
Community-focused journalism
Flexible ad infrastructure
Local-first monetization
National advertising demand
"We want to reverse how money flows—keep local ad dollars in the community while bringing national spend into local markets."
Laurie Sigillito
Founder & CEO, Local News Network
Results at a Glance
Unified monetization across web, mobile, newsletters, and DOOH
New national revenue via ScrnNow integration
Higher perceived value for local advertising placements
Scalable foundation for nationwide expansion
Final Thoughts
By combining the flexibility of AdButler with the reach of ScrnNow, Local News Network has created a scalable hybrid monetization model that supports sustainable local journalism, empowers local businesses, unlocks national advertising demand, monetizes across emerging channels, and scales efficiently across communities and platforms.
Local News Network demonstrates how modern publishers can unify local and national advertising demand, expand into new media channels, and build sustainable community-driven journalism using flexible ad infrastructure.
