Feature: Metros May Boost Regional Morning Market
When Swedish newspaper publisher Modern Times Group started sniffing around on UK soil for new ground on which to launch a free daily morning newspaper, Daily Mail and Evening Standard publisher, Associated Newspapers, moved quickly and aggressively to the defence. Firstly in London, and then in a number of other major cities around the country, Associated launched its free commuter morning paper under the brand name Metro – the same title used by the Modern Times Group in Sweden.
At the same time other publishers suddenly became desperate to launch a similar free morning title and all sought to call it Metro, as if the one brand name was the key to the market’s success. The scrabble for the rights to publish these prolific Metros, between the Guardian and Associated in Manchester and Associated and MTG in Newcastle, have now been well documented (see Metro North West Changes Name After Losing Appeal). The Guardian came out on top in Manchester, forcing Associated to change its title to the North West News, and Associated secured the rights to the Metro brand in Newcastle (the paper is actually published under license from Associated by Trinity Mirror).
What is interesting about the whole debacle is the combative ways in which newspaper publishers have sought to secure the free daily morning market in their respective areas. Battles are being fought not only over the brand itself, but also over the means of the papers’ distribution, at tube, rail and bus stations. The emergence of the Metros shows that publishers whose flagship regional morning newspapers are all showing a slow but steady decline in sales, are seeking to hold on to readers and, accordingly, advertisers, in their market areas.
All titles in the top 12 regional paid-for morning papers have recorded a drop in their circulation since 1990 (ABC Jan-Jun ’90-99). The worst casualties are the Darlington Northern Echo and the Western Mail; both have lost almost a quarter of their circulation in the last ten years. In Glasgow, where a Metro title launched in November, circulation for regional morning title the Herald had fallen by 18% by June last year.
| Regional Morning Papers Circulations Change Jan-Jun 1990-1999 | ||||
| Title | Audit | Jan 90 – Jun 90 | Jan 99 – Jun 99 | % Change |
| Aberdeen Press & Journal | ABC | 105,079 | 104,084 | -0.9 |
| Glasgow Herald | ABC | 123,656 | 100,938 | -18.4 |
| Dundee Courier & Advertiser | ABC | 119,425 | 95,203 | -20.3 |
| Yorkshire Post | ABC | 91,475 | 78,809 | -13.8 |
| Eastern Daily Press | ABC | 87,350 | 77,779 | -11.0 |
| Daily Post (Liverpool/North Wales) | ABC | 75,360 | 69,757 | -7.4 |
| Darlington Northern Echo | ABC | 90,866 | 68,233 | -24.9 |
| Western Mail (Cardiff) | ABC | 75,874 | 57,035 | -24.8 |
| Western Morning News (Plymouth) | ABC | 57,780 | 51,847 | -10.3 |
| Newcastle Journal | ABC | 57,104 | 51,762 | -9.4 |
| East Anglian Daily Times | ABC | 52,456 | 46,310 | -11.7 |
| Paisley Daily Express | ABC | 11,160 | 9,412 | -15.7 |
| Total | 947,585 | 811,169 | -14.4 | |
The Metro brand is well placed to fill the gap and revitalise a flagging morning market; without supplanting the current titles it provides an add-on to the groups’ local papers with its mix of national and local news. The emphasis on national headlines, and the fact that it is free, means that Metro can perhaps entice new readers without cannibalising the regional mornings’ (and evenings’) reader base.
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