Search results matching tag 'thelondonpaper'

Associated hits reset button as London Lite set to close

255762 — Tue, 27 Oct 2009 13:25:00 GMT

Associated Newspaper's statement this afternoon that it is likely to close London Lite, hits the reset button for newspapers in the capital. We had three papers for almost three years and now we are back to square one.

With the Evening Standard going free earlier this month it was only a matter of time before London Lite was closed.

Associated says "it has entered a period of consultation over the future of London Lite, its free London evening title, which may result in closure".

I don't think there is any "may" about it. It is tough for the 36 staff, but the future of London Lite and its employees looks sealed to me.

Steve Auckland, managing director, Associated Newspapers Free Division says that "despite reaching a large audience with an excellent editorial format, we are concerned about the commercial viability in this highly competitive area".

I'm sure they have been concerned for sometime, but with theLondonpaper gone there is no reason for it to be.

I don't remember the last time we were here with the London Daily News versus the Evening Standard aided by the resurrected Evening News in 1987, but it looks like that in London, history repeats itself. That's twice within the last few decades we've had three London papers before reverting to one.

One thing is clear we will not (as they say) see their like again. This really is an end moment in the evening/afternoon paper market in this rapidly changing media landscape. There's obviously still lots happening in other areas of the free market with Shortlist (its women's magazine: Stylist - isn't that due any day now?), City AM and TFL issuing its tender for the Metro slot.

In such a busy and competitive market it is a surprise that they lasted as long as they did, but it was an interesting battle to observe.

The free paper was a great experiment and what is perhaps most interesting is that while both London Lite and thelondonpaper are gone, they have left us with a legacy of a free Evening Standard against a desire by the rest of the industry to charge for content.

That strikes me as fascinating. Particularly given the most recent ABC figures for newspapers in the US this week that show the dire state some are in.

I've read and heard a number of people talk about the future of the Evening Standard and how they see the logic and the long term viability of it as a free title. Time will tell, but oddly I miss it as a paid-for title. I've barely seen it since it went free when previously I could pop out to the news agent outside 174 Hammersmith Road and get my copy, but no more.

Follow me on Twitter

Does The Independent have a future?

2646379 — Mon, 21 Sep 2009 14:38:47 GMT

Denis O'Brien, Independent News & Media's second-biggest shareholder, has launched one of his biggest attacks on the company yet, claiming its flagship UK newspaper, The Independent, will close by Christmas.

The paper's six monthly circulation figure to August is down by 16.8% to 198,445. The Independent on Sunday returned the biggest decrease in Sunday papers, down 21.6% to 163,898.

Does the paper have a future or is it done and ready to join the likes of Thelondonpaper and Today?

Newly reduced, sometimes reused and hardly ever recycled

2114008 — Thu, 20 Aug 2009 15:06:00 GMT

While my thoughts are first and foremost with the people that stand to lose their jobs now thelondonpaper is closing, I can't help but think of all the trees that stand to be saved as a result of this.

We've all seen the state of the tube during and after the morning rush hour; it's impossible to move for discarded Metros, then it’s the same again in the evening with thelondonpaper and London Lite. Now after a certain time these days the Standard becomes free so that's getting strewn all over the place as well.

Correct me if I'm wrong but the attempts to recycle these papers strikes me as woeful. Yes there are a few filler ads in the papers about recycling but London Underground staff clearly treat them as general rubbish and there are hardly any dedicated newspaper recycling bins around the capital.

I'm not sure who is to blame but it seems as if there was little thought about the environment at the outset of the freebie newspaper war.

Paid content and closing TheLondonPaper

255762 — Thu, 20 Aug 2009 14:05:00 GMT

No one thing killed TheLondonPaper, but one of my first thoughts on hearing the sad news that TheLondonPaper was to close was is this part of Rupert Murdoch's paid content strategy?

The facts are pretty simple: London is the most competitive newspaper market in the world and NI Free Newspapers, which publishes the TheLondonPaper, posted a £12.96m loss this year and £16.48m last year.

Unless there is a radical shift in the economy there is little prospect of TheLondonPaper being profitable any time soon. London Lite doesn't make any money either and even after the withdrawal of its rival it still faces an uphill battle as does The Evening Standard, which leads online with TheLondonPaper's closure (London Lite doesn't have a website).

Whether this will be good news for The Evening Standard is tough to say while London Lite continues to publish. Besides, the Standard had problems long before the arrival of London's evening freesheets.

Given that News Corporation has stated that it intends to charge for all forms of online content, a free newspaper and its free website makes ever less sense. Maybe this is the reason that the website will close along with the print title.

Newspapers are closing around the world and unless publishers are making money out of content increasingly they are not going to publish it.

The closure of TheLondonPaper with its 500,000 copies daily is a radical example of that.

Rupert Murdoch is not usually the one to blink first, and he has in the past clobbered rivals with price wars (the Sun is still 20p), but given the changing economic model for content and the fall in advertising revenues not blinking first no longer makes sense.

For Associated Newspapers it might be a hollow victory. Yes its situation is immediately improved, but there is no change to the weakness of overall market conditions.

In his statement James Murdoch said that the move was about streamlining operations and focusing on its core titles. As News Corp prepares to consider a rollout of paid content it makes perfect sense.

Looking at the TheLondonPaper in light of paid content it looks like a remainder and one that has not been carried.

None of this, of course, makes getting money out of consumers for the content that News Corp plans to charge for any easier, but then we will have to wait and see what it does next. As one thing is for sure, Murdoch is full of surprises.

Follow me on Twitter

Free book launch

2182355 — Fri, 03 Jul 2009 11:26:00 GMT

Free book launch

2182355 — Fri, 03 Jul 2009 11:25:00 GMT

Free book launch

2182355 — Fri, 03 Jul 2009 11:25:00 GMT

Free book launch

2182355 — Fri, 03 Jul 2009 11:24:00 GMT

Free book launch

2182355 — Fri, 03 Jul 2009 11:24:00 GMT

Free book launch

2182355 — Fri, 03 Jul 2009 11:24:00 GMT