Five Johnston Press daily titles to go weekly
Johnston Press is set to turn five of its daily newspapers into weeklies as part of a shakeup by chief executive Ashley Highfield.
The Halifax Courier, Scarborough Evening News, Northampton Chronicle & Echo, Peterborough Evening Telegraph and the Northamptonshire Evening Telegraph will be relaunched as weekly titles by the end of May. Johnston Press plans to launch new iPad versions of the titles, as well as 24-hour news coverage online.
The publisher said that the relaunch of the titles would involve single-figure job losses at each of its newspaper operations in Halifax, Kettering, Northampton, Peterborough and Scarborough. The five titles are expected to print bumper weekly editions – around 150 pages each – by the end of May.
| Title | Jul 10 – Dec 10 | Jan 11 – Jun 11 | Jul 11 – Dec 11 | % PoP | % YoY |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Halifax Courier Group | 16,351 | 15,759 | 15,046 | -4.52% | -7.98% |
| Scarborough Evening News | 11,462 | 10,957 | 10,637 | -2.92% | -7.20% |
| Northamptonshire Evening Telegraph | 19,051 | 18,539 | 17,857 | -3.68% | -6.27% |
| Northampton Chronicle & Echo | 16,678 | 16,414 | 15,913 | -3.05% | -4.59% |
| Peterborough Evening Telegraph | 15,506 | 15,462 | 14,883 | -3.74% | -4.02% |
The Scotsman and the Yorkshire Post will not be changed as part of the shakeup. However the company’s 12 other regional dailies are all thought to be at risk.
Johnston Press reported profits of £54.9 million in 2010 but has debt of £350 million.
Read the full Guardian article here.