Sun to cut its cover price by a third

News International is set to slash The Sun‘s cover price by a third to 20p in the north of England from Monday to match London and the south-east.

The Sun‘s 10p price cut, which will cost NI millions of pounds in revenue, will affect the north-west, Yorkshire and north-east regions.

The red-top tabloid’s price has already been reduced to 20p in London as part of NI’s strategy to steadily cut the paper’s cover price from a high of 35p.

The Sun‘s price-cutting tactics, which are thought to be an attempt to keep its circulation above 3 million copies a day, swung into action after the Daily Star reduced its cover price by 15p to 20p.

As a result, the Star‘s sales increased by an impressive 15.8% year on year in May, taking its total circulation up to around 114,600 copies (see NewsLine).

The Daily Star was the only title in the Popular sector and the overall Daily market to report a year on year increase in its circulation.

However, The Sun still holds its title as the biggest selling daily newspaper, despite being down by 5.2% year on year, with just under 3 million copies.

Rebekah Wade, The Sun‘s editor, is set to become News International’s chief executive in September, reporting directly to executive chairman James Murdoch.