Newcomer To The Regional Blocks?

News International’s free afternoon newspaper for London, launching on 18 September 2006, is a blueprint for a wider strategy that could see it take on Metro with regional editions in UK conurbations.

In the capital, thelondonpaper will launch with hand distribution of 300,000–400,000 copies outside Tube and mainline stations, competing with Associated’s Evening Standard (cover price 40p). But it seems that the wider target could be Associated’s Metro, the free morning paper for regional centres, which launched in 1999 and is reported to be making a £10m profit this year.

With Stefano Hatfield in the editor’s chair, thelondonpaper will aim to attract young, upmarket readers, “exactly what advertisers want”. The well-established Evening Standard is sure to compete strongly against the free newcomer in London, and reportedly Associated has long been expecting rivals in the regions too. Look out for a fascinating street fight between these free and paid-for titles this autumn.

Meanwhile:

• In a bid to boost sales, the Coventry Evening Telegraph (Trinity Mirror) is moving to an early morning publishing schedule in October 2006

• YouTube is now top of the league of community websites, having overtaken MySpace. The video-sharing site now takes a 3.9% share of global internet visits each day, compared with 3.35% for MySpace (source: Alexa analysis)

• The Coca-Cola Company has relaunched its website, www.coca-cola.com, to make it a portal for user-generated content. Content on the site includes a series of bi-weekly and monthly challenges to visitors, including making short films. The FMCG giant hopes further to build up a global community by inviting users to judge entries.

Extracted from articles in Media Week, 1–8 August 2006 issue.
Visit www.mediaweek.co.uk

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