October 2026
Largest Publishing Public Companies in the US
Benchmark revenue and EBITDA valuation multiples for public comps like
News Corp, New York Times, McGraw Hill, John Wiley & Sons and USA TODAY.
 | News Corporation is a diversified media and information services conglomerate with significant presence in the US, the UK, and Australia. Key mastheads include The Wall Street Journal, Barron's, New York Post, The Times, The Sun, The Australian, Herald Sun, and The Daily Telegraph. Its 61%-owned REA Group is the dominant property listings platform in Australia. In addition, it owns Harper Collins, one of the largest book publishers in the world, and has a sizable US digital property advertising business, Move. The 65% interest in Foxtel, the Australian pay-TV and streaming provider, was sold in April 2025. The sale to global sports streaming platform, DAZN, was struck at more than 7 times Foxtel's EBITDA. | $29 | +10% | $16B | $18B | 2.0x | 11.8x | ||
| The New York Times Company is an American media company headquartered in the New York Times Building in Manhattan, New York City, and the publisher of The New York Times and The New York Times International Edition. Alongside its news report it owns The Athletic, a subscription sports news site bought in February 2022 for $550 million, the word game Wordle, acquired in January 2022, and podcast producer Serial Productions, acquired in 2020. The company earns most of its revenue from digital and print subscriptions, supplemented by digital and print advertising. In 2025 it added 1.4 million net digital subscribers, including 450,000 in the fourth quarter, to reach about 12.8 million, and its digital revenue topped $2 billion for the first time, driven by roughly 14% growth in digital subscription revenue; fourth-quarter digital advertising rose about 25% to $147 million. The newspaper was first published on September 18, 1851, by Henry Jarvis Raymond and George Jones. The company introduced a website paywall in 2011 and has since sold About.com and The Boston Globe to concentrate on its subscription model. Meredith Kopit Levien has been chief executive since 2020. | $66 | +16% | $11B | $10B | 3.6x | 19.9x | ||
| McGraw Hill is an American education company that publishes curriculum and course materials and sells adaptive learning software to schools, universities and professionals. Its roots go back to 1888, when James H. McGraw bought the American Journal of Railway Appliances, and to the 1909 merger of his and John A. Hill's publishing operations into the McGraw-Hill Book Company. The K-12 business provides core, supplemental and intervention curricula to US schools; Higher Education sells digital courseware such as the Connect platform and the ALEKS adaptive learning system alongside e-books and print materials; Global Professional serves medical and engineering learners; and International sells in more than 100 countries. The McGraw-Hill Companies sold the education business to Apollo Global Management for $2.4 billion in 2013, Platinum Equity bought it for $4.5 billion in 2021, and it completed an initial public offering on the New York Stock Exchange under the ticker MH on 24 July 2025. The company reports about $2.2 billion of annual revenue and 4,200 employees, and digital products generated about 61% of revenue in the first quarter of fiscal 2026. It is headquartered in Columbus, Ohio and led by chief executive Philip Moyer. | $13 | +20% | $2.6B | $5B | 2.4x | 8.2x | ||
| John Wiley & Sons Inc is a publisher and a trusted leader in research and learning. The company segment includes: Research, which includes the reporting lines of Research Publishing and Research Solutions, and Learning includes the Academic and Professional reporting lines and consists of publishing, courseware, and assessments. Its industry-principal content, services, platforms, and knowledge networks are tailored to meet the evolving needs of its customers and partners, including researchers, students, instructors, professionals, institutions, and corporations. The company empowers knowledge-seekers to transform today’s obstacles into tomorrow’s brightest opportunities. For more than two centuries, the company has been delivering on its timeless mission to unlock human potential. | $50 | +33% | $2.5B | $3.8B | 2.2x | 9.3x | ||
| USA Today Co Inc is a diversified media company with expansive reach at the national and local level, dedicated to empowering and enriching communities. It prioritizes a digital-first approach, focusing on audience growth and engagement while diversifying revenue streams. Through its trusted brands, including the USA TODAY NETWORK, comprised of the national publication, USA TODAY, and local media organizations, including a network of local properties, in the United States, and Newsquest, a wholly-owned subsidiary operating in the United Kingdom, provide essential journalism, local content, and digital experiences to audiences and businesses. Its digital marketing solutions brand, LocaliQ, supports small and medium-sized businesses with digital marketing products and solutions. | $7 | +29% | $1B | $2B | 0.9x | 7.7x | ||
| Daily Journal Corp publishes newspapers and websites covering California and Arizona and produces several specialized information services. The company operates in two segments: Traditional business and Journal Technologies which includes Journal Technologies, Inc. and Journal Technologies (Canada) Inc. It also serves as a newspaper representative specializing in public notice advertising. The majority of revenue is generated from the Traditional segment. | $642 | +59% | $885M | $469M | 5.3x | 26.7x | ||
| Scholastic Corp is an American publishing and education media company that focuses on books and educational material for schools, teachers, parents, and children. It creates print, digital, and audiobooks, learning materials and programs, classroom magazines, and other products that support children’s learning and reading both at home and at school. The company also owns rights to various books, including Harry Potter, Dog Man, and The Hunger Games among others. It has three reportable segments Children’s Book Publishing and Distribution, Education Solutions, and International. The majority of its revenue is from the Children’s Book Publishing and Distribution segment. | $39 | +35% | $711M | $1.1B | 0.7x | 6.1x | ||
| Lee Enterprises Inc is a local news publication company in the United States. It is a digital-first subscription business providing local markets with valuable, high-quality, trusted, intensely local news, information, advertising, and marketing services. The product portfolio of the company includes digital subscription platforms, daily, weekly, and monthly newspapers, and niche products, all delivering original local news and information as well as national and international news. The products offer digital and print editions, and content and advertising are available in real-time through the websites and mobile apps. | $8 | +80% | $170M | $588M | 1.0x | 35.2x | ||
| Goodheart-Willcox Co Inc is a United States-based company engaged in publishing both print and digital textbooks on technical, trades, engineering; family and consumer sciences; business, computer, and career education; agriculture education; health sciences; and health and physical education. It also produces online courses and other instructional resources that provide a complete classroom solution. The company publishes for technical, trades, and technology; family and consumer sciences; and business, marketing, and career education. The firm recognizes revenue from selling digital online content, printed products and others. | $357 | -14% | $159M | $159M | 6.6x | - | ||
| Reading International Inc is a diversified company, engaged in the development, ownership, and operation of multiplex cinemas and retail and commercial real estate in the United States, Australia, and New Zealand. It operates through two segments: the Cinema segment includes Reading Cinemas, Angelika Film Center, Consolidated Theatres, and City Cinemas; the Real Estate segment includes real estate development and the rental or licensing of retail, commercial and live theater assets. | $2 | +36% | $62M | $414M | 2.0x | 22.4x | ||
| IDW Media Holdings Inc is a diversified media company with operations in publishing, television entertainment, and media distribution. Its segments include IDW Publishing (IDWP), which creates comic books, graphic novels, digital content, and games; and IDW Entertainment (IDWE), which operates as a production company & studio that develops and produces content and formats for international platforms and services. Maximum of revenue is from IDWP segment. | $39 | -- | $11M | $3M | 0.1x | (2.1x) | ||
| Educational Development Corp is the United States trade publisher of the line of educational children's books produced in the United Kingdom. Its business activity functions with two reportable segments: PaperPie and Publishing. The Publishing Division segment markets its products to retail accounts, which include books, school supplies, toy and gift stores and museums, through commissioned sales representatives, trade and specialty wholesalers and an internal telesales group. | $1 | -17% | $11M | $16M | 0.7x | 2.0x | ||
| Music Licensing Inc is an operator of a public performance rights organization. The group is a music performing rights organization that represents songwriters, composers, and music publishers and issues public performance licenses to businesses. Its customers include television and radio stations, internet/streaming services and mobile technologies, Satellite audio services like XM and Sirius, nightclubs, restaurants, bars, and other venues. The group generates revenue from monthly or annual license fees. | Music+1 | $0 | -- | $10K | $10K | 0.0x | 0.0x | |
| Median | $29 | +29% | $711M | $588M | 2.0x | 8.7x |
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