Evening Standard To Close Metro Life

The London Evening Standard is reported to be dropping its Thursday entertainment supplement, Metro Life , stopping publication at the end of August.

Metro Life was launched in September 2002, after re-launching its Hot Tickets supplement and adding an extra 34 pages of editorial. Associated Newspapers hoped the new Hot Stuff section would capitalise on the popularity of celebrity magazines such as Heat (see Evening Standard Re-Launches Hot Tickets).

However, after three years Associated Newspapers has decided to close the Thursday entertainment and listings publication, with the expected loss of 12 jobs.

Earlier this year the Office of Fair Trading (OFT) cleared the way for a new afternoon or evening newspaper to be distributed to London commuters, following a 23-month investigation (see OFT Clears Way For New London Afternoon Paper).

The OFT looked into the exclusive rights of Associated Newspapers Ltd (ANL), publishers of the Metro and paid for afternoon/evening newspaper the Evening Standard, to distribute the Metro free in the Underground and various train stations throughout London.

The move pleased Express Newspapers owner, Richard Desmond, who had reportedly registered the name London i as the title for his planned free-sheet newspaper which will compete with the Evening Standard and the Metro in the capital (see Desmond Eyes New Name For Planned London Free-Sheet).

In June, Associated Newspapers announced plans to invest nearly £100 million in new printing facilities, saying that it will build a new £80 million plant near Oxford and spend an additional £16 million on its Harmsworth Quays site in London (see Associated Print Investment Brings Full Colour Papers).

Associated Newspapers: 020 7938 6000 www.associatednewspapers.com