It was founded as
The Midland Daily Telegraph in 1891 by
William Isaac Iliffe (1843–1917), and was
Coventry's first
daily newspaper. Sold for half a penny, it was a four-page
broadsheet newspaper. In 1917, ownership of the paper changed to Iliffe's son
Edward Iliffe (later 1st Baron Iliffe), upon the father's death. The only day the newspaper was unable to publish was 15 November 1940, owing to the
blitz raid on the city. It changed its name to the
Coventry Evening Telegraph on 17 November 1941. From 1946 until the end of April 2004, a separate sports publication,
The Pink, was printed every Saturday evening. It provided coverage of sport from the Midlands, as well as national and international sport. The fortunes of
Coventry City F.C. played a prominent role in
The Pink. With the 1998-99
football season,
The Pink became the first regional evening newspaper to provide same-day reports from all FA Premiership matches. In 2016,
Coventry Telegraph launched a new weekly podcast, centred around goings on at
Coventry City F.C., titled 'The Pink'. In the 1970s, the
Evening Telegraph had a regular consumer page called
Watchdog, which was edited by Ken Burgess. Coincidentally, the BBC used the same name for what became its long-running
Watchdog series. In 1985, the local independent radio station (then known as
Mercia Sound) and the Telegraph formed the Snowball Appeal, a charitable organisation whose aim is to raise money to help sick and needy children in Coventry and
Warwickshire. In 1987, after 96 years of ownership by the Illife family, American
Ralph Ingersoll II bought the controlling interest of the Iliffe family's newspapers. However, in 1991, the managing director, Chris Oakley, led a management buy-out, creating
Midland Independent Newspapers. In 1997, the newspaper became a part of the then-Mirror Group when Midland Independent Newspapers was sold for £297 million. In 1999, Mirror Group merged with the regional newspaper group Trinity. Trinity Mirror is now known as
Reach plc. On 2 October 2006, the
Telegraph simply became the
Coventry Telegraph, reflecting its switch to a morning publication. The switch to a morning paper saw a change in emphasis with the printed edition concentrating on exclusive and community news, leaving breaking news to its website. In the summer of 2014, the newspaper began a social media campaign entitled #bringCityhome, which helped ensure
Coventry City F.C.'s return to the city following their exile at
Sixfields in Northampton. The campaign drew praise from national media and figures within the football world. It was shortlisted at the Press Gazette British Journalism Awards 2014 in the Campaign of the Year category and
Simon Gilbert, who spearheaded the campaign, was nominated for Sports Journalist of the Year. == Headquarters ==