Stuart Taylor, commercial director at Guardian Newspapers Ltd, said: “I think
Metro is a phenomenon. It’s not for everybody but I think they’ve been brilliant in capturing that moment in time when people are travelling and I think that’s extremely clever and very effective. Advertisers are falling over themselves to get space in there.”
The timing of the paper’s delivery (while commuters are rushing to work and need something to occupy them on a crowded train) was agreed on by the panel to be a great way of netting readers and led to comments equating the paper’s succinct articles with the short length of report one might find on a website.
However, Taylor did have a few words of caution for the print phenomenon, saying: “If you look around the world, free papers are increasingly less profitable because what happens is, one comes in and then another comes in and another and degrades profitability in the sector.”
Speaking about the challenge to the Metro which will come from a soon to be launched afternoon freesheet, Taylor said: “I think Metro has a window to establish itself and make some money, but I think the heat is going to be turned up on its profitability very shortly.”
Free content, not just via the traditional print medium but also online, was then discussed by the panel, with Taylor expressing how many in the industry no doubt feel, saying: “We’re all going to have to work out ways of paying for content. You pay a licence fee, you pay a subscription to Sky. Somewhere, somehow people are going to have to pay if they want something worth having. We’re all experimenting and nobody wants to blink first.”
There is a 28 page report on the future of the press available from MediaTel INSIGHT www.mediatelinsight.co.uk/reports (free to all INSIGHT subscribers), which includes long-term trends for national newspaper circulation and readership, as well as the latest advertising revenue and circulation forecasts and an analysis of current marketplace dynamics.
Related Links
