Scottish Newspaper Price War Breaks Out

The Scottish Sunday Times and Scotland on Sunday have started a price war in Scotland by reducing their prices to 50p.

Scotland on Sunday was the first to make the move last weekend, cutting 25p from its cover price. Immediately the Scottish Sunday Times dropped its price by 50p. Both papers claim that the reduction has increased sales by around 25-30% to 110,000 copies.

Bert Hardy, chief executive of Scotland on Sunday, told MediaTel that the price-cut could stay in place for as long as a year. Will Peekin, editor of the Scottish Sunday Times, denied that his paper’s price cut was part of a price war and said that it was a way of introducing new readers to the changes the paper made in April (Newsline 12/04).

Scotland On Sunday: 0131 225 2468

Scottish Sunday Times: 0141 420 5260