National Press Industry Round-Up 1997
The national newspaper market experienced a varied year, being characterised by major redesigns, new supplement launches, more voucher/subscription schemes and a major brouhaha throughout the beginning of the year between the ABC, the Times and the Telegraph over how “special offer” newspaper editions should be recorded on the ABC.
Both of the newspaper companies complained to the ABC over the other’s promotional policies (Telegraph subscription offers being included as full-rate sales and the 10p edition of the Times also being included in this category) and the threat of legal action loomed with writs flying. In the end no legal action was taken and the ABC agreed to introduce a new category which covered pre-paid non-postal subscription offers, which appeared for the first time in June.
The broader issue raised its head again towards the end of 1997 when even the politicians got involved, with the Liberal Democrat trade and industry spokesman in the Lords, Lord McNally, tabling an amendment to the Competition Bill which said that News International’s cover-price strategies were anti-competetive. The result of this is still pending.
The scale of change at some newspapers during 1997 was remarkable. The Sunday Times, Daily Mirror and Independent On Sunday all began the New Year with revamps, the Daily Mirror‘s being more radical as it changed its name to simply The Mirror. As well as a new masthead the revamp also boasted a daily 12-page TV guide and more feature-type articles aimed at women. The Sunday Times meanwhile expanded it business, sports and travel sections while also changing the layout of some pages.
The Independent On Sunday also had face-lift, with a new-look broadsheet and Real Life section, a revamped business supplement and a new section in the shape of Spending. New mastheads and layouts were also employed throughout all of the sections.
It was, however, its sister title, the Independent, which embarked upon the most drastic changes when it was redesigned in September. As well as a new type-face and masthead there was also a general rethink about how the paper should present its news, with a move towards analysis instead of straightforward news reporting. While many in the industry saw the move as “brave”, sales did not respond particularly well, though reducing the cover-price to 20p for the first week after the redesign prompted a short-term sales growth.
The importance of the Saturday edition was also shown in 1997 with a number of new sections being added to a number of papers. The Times‘s Saturday edition got the full treatment in November, with a new kids title called Meg@, an arts and entertainment listings magazine Metro appearing and Go replacing Car97. A major new 100-page glossy magazine was also added to the Saturday paper at the beginning of 1998.
The Daily Telegraph also announced at the end of 1997 that it would be changing its Saturday package, with the launch of new sports and travel sections and the migration of the business supplement into the back of the main broadsheet.
The European also underwent some radical changes, first closing its magazine in May and then changing its broadsheet format into a tabloid.
Other new sections/supplements which were launched in 1997 included the Mirror‘s Football Fever in July; the Independent‘s City+ and Media+ sections; the Express On Sunday‘s Express On Sunday Magazine to replace Boulevard; the Guardian‘s property/interior design-orientated Space and a stand-alone Media section; the Express‘s business section EX; the Sunday Times‘s New London; and the Sunday Telegraph‘s health supplement Rx.
While the price-cutting was not as fierce in 1997 as it had been the previous year, a number of titles did embark upon one-off and short-term reductions in cover-price. Early in January the Scottish editions of the Sun and Mirror both sold their Monday editions for 10p, while the Express and Daily Mail also slashed their prices to 10p on Saturdays for a number of weeks. The Express used this ploy nationwide on a number of occasions during 1997, cutting its Saturday cover-price to 20p for three or four weeks.
A number of direct-mail and voucher promotions also occurred during 1997, with both of the Telegraph titles using a cut-price subscription scheme throughout the year, whilst smaller offers were also run by the Mirror and Express.
Cover-price increases during the year included the Independent going up 5p to 45p in October, the Sunday Telegraph going up 10p to 80p in May and the Saturday edition of the Daily Mail increasing 5p to 45p. In February the Sun was actually given away free in a promotion with Camelot to launch the Wednesday lottery. Some reports suggested it badly backfired because people bought its rival, the Mirror, with the money they had saved!
The other main news in the national press market was the closure of Sunday Business, which went into receivership in July. After financial traumas in 1996 it seemed as though some stability had been found when Group 2000, an industrial machinery manufacturer, bought a large stake in the paper. This was short-lived however, as Group 2000 itself then went into receivership and various rescue packages fell through in July. A buyer was found for the title however in August, when the Barclay Brothers, owners of the European bought a controlling stake in the title. The paper is now due to launch again in February.
The Press database can be accessed by selecting “Press” from the drop-down box at the top of this page.
A full press data round-up for 1997 will be appearing on Newsline next week.