Metro set for makeover

Daily freesheet Metro is set to get a new look from Monday with smaller headlines and extra celebrity news pages.

The Associated Newspapers title will be getting “a little makeover” according to the publisher, which is also set to include fewer listing pages.

Celebrity gossip pages will increase from two pages to four, though the editorial/advertising ratio will remain the same, according to a Associated spokesperson.

Listings from the print title will be moved to the website, Metro.co.uk, but Associated said on the whole “readers are unlikely to notice the changes”.

Metro UK’s distribution figures remain high and, despite the downturn that has hit newspaper advertising in recent months, the title remains profitable, “for the time being anyway,” said a spokesperson.

In the latest ABC release, Metro London posted a circulation of over 746,000 copies (see Evening Standard’s circulation up in October) – however, the total number of Metros given away in October reached 1,361,306, making it the fourth most popular national daily paper.

Associated Newspapers: www.associatednewspapers.com