Standard Staff on Alert for Possible New Year Launch

Evening Standard staff are said to have been told they will be expected to work over the Xmas period, amid speculation that the anticipated new free title may launch early in the New Year.

The briefing of media buyers anticipated on Newsline in October is said to be likely to get under way shortly, but is not under way yet, as some sources have suggested.

Reports had previously predicted that the so-called Standard Lite would launch in November – with fewer pages than the paid-for edition in an attempt to bring in new readers and strengthen its brand in the face of potential increasing competition from Richard Desmond.

The title is expected to be given out by vendors across London between 12pm and 2pm, before the paid-for edition hits the capital later in the day.

Desmond has been developing the London free-sheet since the beginning of last year and has reportedly registered the name London i as the title for the paper, but he is still waiting for the outcome of an OFT investigation into an exclusive distribution deal between Metro-owner Associated Newspapers and London Underground. Desmond claims that DMGT’s long-running contract with London Underground to distribute Metro at its stations is anti-competitive, but he has conceded that there is little chance of his paper being launched unless the deal is found to be illegal.

The latest October monthly ABC results show that the Evening Standard has seen circulation fall year on year from 421,465 to 381,186, but the latest month on month data shows a 15,000 increase in sales.

Evening Standard: 0207 938 6000 www.thisislondon.co.uk
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