Metro’s 10th birthday
Associated Newspapers launched the first ever free national daily paper in Britain 10 years ago, capturing “young, affluent” readers – some who were new to newspapers altogether and some who made the switch from other easy-reads such as The Sun and the Daily Mirror.
The Metro has become one of the world’s largest circulation giveaways as well as Britain’s fourth largest circulation national paper, and has arguably transformed the British newspaper industry.
Speaking on BBC Radio 4 earlier today, the Metro‘s managing director, Steve Auckland, said the paper’s readers are being informed and entertained by “bite-sized news”.
“We’re there for a 20-minute read … we’re not going into investigative journalism and all the rest of that, there’s no political agenda with Metro, so it’s a short sharp news fix first thing in the morning,” he added.
The Metro is certainly popular among commuters, with it’s London-based title circulating almost 734,000 (according to the ABC release for February 2009) – up from around 337,000 copies in January 2000.
The Metro Group’s circulation – which encompasses regional Metro titles in the Midlands, Scotland and Dublin to name just a few – has also enjoyed significant growth, up from just over 800,000 copies in May 2001, to an impressive 1.3 million copies now.
The Associated paper increased its distribution by a significant 250,000 copies in August 2007, not long after other freesheets were launched in the capital following the huge success of the Metro.
Associated launched the London Lite in August 2006 – a free daily evening paper to sit alongside the publishing group’s London Evening Standard.
A month later, News International jumped on the bandwagon with thelondonpaper – another free evening daily paper.
Both titles started off with a similar circulation of around 370,000 copies, which was significantly less than the Metro at the time – however, the London Lite has now reached more than 400,000 copies and thelondonpaper has rocketed to over 550,000.
The two London evening freesheets sit ahead of the Evening Standard in terms of circulation.
However, desite suffering from an initial fall in circulation when the free titles launched in 2006, the Evening Standard has since managed to hold on to its loyal readership and now boasts a total of more than 277,000 – which is fairly impressive considering the increased competition.
In January, London’s long-running evening title was sold to former KGB agent Alexander Lebedev (see Former KGB agent to buy Evening Standard), who is reportedly set to invest £25 million in to the paper over the next three years.