Women Favour London Lite Over thelondonpaper
A year after their launch in the capital (see thelondonpaper Launches And The Free Newspaper War Begins), the two free afternoon papers, the London Lite and thelondonpaper, have today released their first National Readership Survey figures, for January to June 2007, showing the London Lite to be ahead of its rival.
Despite thelondonpaper remaining in top spot circulation-wise, with 495,900 copies compared to the Lite‘s total of almost 406,300 (see thelondonpaper Sees Circulation Decline In August), today’s figures reveal the Lite to be the most read freesheet.
The London Lite recorded an NRS figure of 745,000, against thelondonpaper‘s 713,000. Broken down, it appears there is a relatively even split between men and women readers, with women slightly favouring the Lite over its rival, perhaps due to the non-transferable ink it is printed on or the enthusiasm of its distributors.
Of the 745,000 adults who read the Lite, 47.5% are female and 52.5% are male, whilst thelondonpaper shows a breakdown of 45.7% female and 54.3% male.
Compared to the Evening Standard, which has reported a readership figure of around 690,000, 57.7% are male readers and 42.3% are female.
| Title | Survey | Audience | Jan 07-Jun 07 | % breakdown |
| Evening Standard (London) | NRS | Adults | 691,000 | |
| Evening Standard (London) | NRS | Men | 399,000 | 57.7 |
| Evening Standard (London) | NRS | Women | 292,000 | 42.3 |
| London Lite | NRS | Adults | 745,000 | |
| London Lite | NRS | Men | 391,000 | 52.5 |
| London Lite | NRS | Women | 354,000 | 47.5 |
| thelondonpaper | NRS | Adults | 713,000 | |
| thelondonpaper | NRS | Men | 387,000 | 54.3 |
| thelondonpaper | NRS | Women | 326,000 | 45.7 |
In July, the NRS released a statement explaining that it was to postpone the release of data for the two London afternoon freesheets, which was expected to be released that month.
Roger Pratt, managing director of the NRS, said: “The decision was taken because on close inspection of the data it was concluded that the estimates for both papers for the period December 2006 – May 2007 are at the moment based on an insufficiently complete sample as they cannot include responses to the self-completion questionnaire (SCQ) (see
NRS Postpones Freesheet Figures NRS Records 20% Increase In London Response Rate).
There have today been reports that thelondonpaper‘s owner, News International, is upset by today’s figures, heavily criticising the NRS.
General manager, Ian Clarke, told MediaGuardian: “We do not believe that the NRS is sophisticated enough to keep pace with the changes in distribution. Witness the small London sample. We are keen to see NRS address these new issues as soon as possible.”
Pratt said that the results were delayed due to complaints from News International: “We were engaged in extensive discussions with News International because it was unhappy with the readership estimates because it believed they were too low,” he said. “But we stand by the data, which we believe is robust. I find it very credible indeed.”
He added: “If NI are happy about [the fact that three-quarters of thelondonpaper‘s readers are ABC1s], which came from the same data, then why do they fail to accept the veracity of the overall figure?”
NRS: 020 7242 8111 www.nrs.co.uk