Metro Could Expand To Counter Threat From Desmond
Associated Newspapers is believed to be considering further launches of its Metro freesheet in response Richard Desmond’s decision to take on the title with his own free London newspaper.
Metro’s managing director, Steve Auckland, reportedly said that Associated wanted to take the title’s nationwide circulation from around 830,000 to over 1 million, which could be achieved by launching the newspaper in a ninth UK city.
Auckland said that the Metro has succeeded because it is distributed free to commuters in underground and mainline railway stations. He told the Guardian: “We’ve kept in a market that wasn’t seen to be there before. We take 30 to 40 minutes of people’s time in the morning when before they were sitting staring at each other.”
He said that advertisers value the Metro because readers choose to pick up copies from special distribution points, rather than being handed then by merchandisers.
Analysis of the Metro‘s total circulation over the last three years reveals a strong performance for the title. Despite a brief dip in December 2000, the morning freesheet has seen circulation increase steadily to reach 832,050 in January 2003.
It is widely expected that Richard Desmond will unveil his new London freesheet, The Evening Mail, within the next few months, in a move to compete directly with Associated Newspapers’ Evening Standard (see Desmond Plans To Launch New Evening Paper For London). However, Associated owns the distribution contract for London’s railway and tube stations, making them out of bounds for Desmond, who could be forced to employ people to distribute the newspaper on the street.
Speculation also suggests that Associated Newspapers is drawing up plans to launch a tabloid competitor to Richard Desmond’s Daily Star, in an attempt to hit back at Northern & Shell for launching the Evening Mail (see Associated To Rival Desmond’s Star With Tabloid Launch).
Associated Newspapers: 020 7938 6000 www.associatednewspapers.co.uk
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