Times Relaunches Saturday Edition With Extra Content
News International is relaunching the Saturday edition of The Times with new sections, increased coverage and new writers in an attempt to increase the circulation of the title.
The new-look paper, which goes on sale this Saturday, will give greater prominence to home, foreign and business news, as well as comment and analysis. It will also contain a number of new sections dedicated to health and well-being, sport, arts and entertainment.
Each new section has its own dedicated editor and a number of new high-profile writers intended to raise the overall profile of the paper, which is attempting to distance itself from its competitors.
The Weekend Review, will be a provocative guide to arts, culture and modern living. It will be edited by Ben Macintyre, former US editor of The Times, and will carry writing from former editor of BBC Radio 4’s Today programme, Rod Liddle, who was recently poached from the Guardian.
The health and beauty pages will be called Body & Soul and will be edited by Hilly Janes, former features editor at The Independent. The new section will include writing from Hannah Betts, Irma Kutz and Amanda Platell.
The Eye is designed to be a complete home entertainment magazine covering everything from TV to radio and the best DVDs and CDs. It will be edited by Dominic Wells, award-winning former editor of Time Out, and will feature content from novelist, Tibor Fisher, and Times columnist, Giles Coren.
The new Saturday Times, which will also inched a greatly expanded Times Magazine, will be edited by Michael Gove. The paper has been designed by Tomaso Capuano, art director for new projects, in conjunction with David Driver, head of design.
Commenting on the relaunch, Robert Thomson, editor of The Times, said: “Readers are tired of supplements just for the sake of supplements, and need a mix of the fun, the functional and the thoughtful. The Times now has the most ambitiously designed sections of any newspaper in the world, and contains, by far, the largest group of talented, witty and challenging writers.”
Clive Milner, managing director of Times Newspapers, added: “The new Saturday Times is an outstanding product and the combination of the fresh design, new sections and authoritative and intelligent writing that The Times is recognised for will provide our advertisers with the most compelling product on a Saturday.”
The latest ABC results for the sixth months to July 2003 show that The Times has seen circulation decline by 8.4% year on year to 645,116. This places it someway behind the Daily Telegraph, which maintained its position as quality market leader, despite a 7.9% drop in circulation during the same period to 924,334.
News International: 020 7782 3922 www.newscorp.co.uk
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