On August 28, 2006, Dow Jones announced they were putting the Record-Eagle up for sale, and the paper eventually was purchased by CNHI.

The circulation area of the Record-Eagle covers much of northern Michigan, with a particular emphasis on counties adjacent to Greater Traverse City.

[1] While the economy of Michigan as a whole has been characterized as stagnant or declining, the Traverse City area demonstrated significant population growth in the 2000s.

The Traverse City area's economy centers on four-season recreation, retirement living, tourism, higher education, and Native American gaming, and the newspaper covers these concerns.

In 2005, the Record-Eagle told the Media Management Center (Northwestern University) that its daily circulation was 29,341.