Bay of Plenty Times growth since Mt Maunganui became an export port. However, from the early 2000s it began to face challenges of declining circulation and advertising. On 5 February 2011, the Saturday edition was re-branded as the "Bay Of Plenty Times Weekend". On 4 March 2013, the weekday "Bay Of Plenty Times" changed from broadsheet to tabloid format and from afternoon to morning delivery. The "Bay of Plenty Times" has the ninth-largest circulation of New Zealand's 19 daily newspapers, at just over 11,500. The "Bay of Plenty Times" also publishes the following newspapers: The "Coastal News" is delivered free every Thursday to Whangamata,
Bay of Plenty in 1769. Cook noted the abundance of food supplies, in comparison to Poverty Bay further back along the eastern coast of the North Island. Further reports of European contact are scarce prior to the arrival of missionary Samuel Marsden to the Tauranga area in 1820. During the 1820s and 1830s, northern iwi including Ngā Puhi invaded the Bay of Plenty during their campaign throughout the North Island, fighting local Māori tribes in what became known as the Musket Wars. However, the 1830s and 1840s saw increased contact between Bay of Plenty Māori and Europeans through trade, although few Europeans settled