Newspaper Innovation

Readership of the Evening Standard in the least months when the paper moved to free distribution increased to almost 1.37 million according to Stephen Brook in The Guardian. Brook compares readership data over the last three months with the 6 months preceding that.

This increase (+140%) is exactly in line with the increase from 250,000 to 600,000 copies (also +140%) of the Evening Standard when it went free. This means the paper has 2.3 readers per copy.

Metro reaches 2.7 readers per copy; also London Lite had 2.7 readers per copy in their last surveyed period. Thelondonpaper reached 2.2 readers per copy in the first half of 2009.

With 1,370,000 readers the Evening Standard would be the 9th paper in the UK, surpassing the Daily Record, the Guardian and the Independent.

In the latest public available NRS readership data (October 2008 – September 2009) Metro finally surpassed the Daily Mirror, it is now the 3rd best-read paper in the UK after the Sun and the Daily Mail.

Since 2005/2006 Metro increased readership with 82%. Only two other UK national papers saw their readership increase since 2005/2006: The Times (+2%) and Daily Star (+15). The Daily Telegraph, The Independent and the Daily Record lost 10% or more.

On February 3, 2000, the first issue of free daily Madrid y M@s was launched in the Spanish capital. In November an edition for Catalonia, Barcelona y M@s, followed.

Norwegian publisher Schibsted bought the newspapers in 2001 and changed the title into 20 Minutos, just like their first free dailies in Switzerland and Germany. Spanish publisher Zeta (El Periodico del Catalunya, Sport) acquired 20% of the operation in 2005. In 2009 Schibsted bought back this minority share.

New editions for Sevilla and Zaragoza were added in 2003; Valencia and Alicante followed in 2004. In 2005 the paper expanded to Malaga, Granada, Murcia, Cordoba, Bilbao, Valladolid, Coruna and Vigo. An edition for Asturias (Gijon) followed in 2007.

Circulation increased until 2007 to more than a million, after that the recession forced 20 Minutos to cut circulation, like all Spanish free dailies.

Free Dutch daily Metro is since this week cooperating with Internet radio station Traffic Radio.

Every day news from Metro will be featured in the morning radio show Spitsradio. (”Spits” mean rush hour, however, it is also the name of competing free daily by the Telegraaf Media Group.)

The radio show – meant for car drivers during rush hour – can be listened to via the mobile phone

In the conflict between French trade union CGT and Vincent Bolloré, the publisher of free daily Direct Matin, a new chapter was written when the union published a fake free daily ‘Direct Malin’ (malin: evil or mischievous) yesterday February 5.

(See several previous posts this week for the background of the conflict.)

The fake issue focuses on the fact that Bolloré, CEO of one of the most profitable companies in France, has moved to a cheaper printing plant (where CGT has less influence). It also covers the relation between Bolloré and president Sarkozy.

The four-page paper can be downloaded from the CGT website.

Not covered in Direct Malin is how the people working at the new printer are thinking about the actions directed at Direct Matin and at their jobs.

Strikers at the Brodard Graphique printing plant in Coulommiers destroyed 150,000 copies of the Wednesday issues of French free daily Direct Matin (right).

Between 30 and 40 strikers put water on the copies by using the fire hoses at the factory. Also the tires of two trucks were cut.

Total circulation Direct Matin is around 450,000; Direct Matin printed more papers later to make up for the destroyed copies. (Le Monde) L’Express)

The main problem is that Vincent’s Bolloré’s Direct Matin moved from the “newspaper” printing plant of Le Monde to the “commercial” printing plant of Brodard. The trade union CGT wants newspapers to be printed at newspaper printers, while newspapers prefer commercial printers were trade unions are less powerful and rates are lower. (see previous post)

Notwithstanding lower revenues in Q4 2009, Metro International made a profit of € 5.9 million against a loss of @ 9.8 million in Q4 2008. These are the highest profits in a single quarter ever for Metro International.

This suggests a turning point for the company; divesting of loss making operations and cost cuts apparently were successful. Headquarters costs, for instance declined year-on-year by 27 percent.

Results for the full year, however, still shows a operating loss of € 13.4 million (2008: loss of € 19.9 million). Excluding closed and divested operations the operating loss was € 3 million (2008: loss of € 6 million).

For the whole year 2009 operations in Sweden, Denmark, the Netherlands, France, Hong Kong, Chile were profitable. Losses were reported for Hungary and Greece.

The associated companies in South Korea, Brazil, Mexico, the Czech Republic and Canada contributed to Metro’s revenues in a positive way. Online is still a money-losing business.

After the proposed law whereby newspapers cannot be foreign owned in Israel, also another proposal is targeting free newspapers in the country.

Marina Solodkin, a member of the opposition Kadima party in the Israel parliament Knesset wants to limit the free distribution of newspapers to no more than a year.

Solodkin told Israel National News:

I am in favor of freedom of expression and pluralism, but in the current situation, there is a danger of centralization – one paper for the lower classes that want a free newspaper, and one for the upper classes. (…) Maariv is in danger of folding. There must be fair competition; it is unfair if a newspaper can cause another to close because it’s given out for free. This is what I am trying to prevent.

In the January newsletter:

• Cuts & closures in Europe
• Barometer: all closed down free papers since 1999
• Launch: Metro Herald Ireland
• Closures: Estonia now without free dailies
• Circulation: Spain drops with 43%, UK with 500,00o; expansion in the Netherlands
• Wraps in Singapore
• Metro Canada teams up with social network FourSquare
• Anti-Adelson law in Israel
• New Bolloré printer goes on strike
• Basque free dailies and weeklies
• Research: Canada, Bangladesh

All issues can be downloaded from the newsletter page.

By far the best report on the ‘new London freesheet’ is James Ball’s account of the curious enigma that is surrounding the new free weekly. Newspaperinnovation only covered the new publication once, when it was announced in November 2009 (see previous post).

As it is a weekly, and I mostly cover free dailies, the launch was not much of my concern, although the (free) publicity around it was more than impressive. Almost every medium in the UK devoted some articles on the new operation.

One of the reasons is that some considered it a successor of the defunct London Lite and thelondonpaper, mainly because everything that is handed out free is called a freesheet by some Brits. Well, there is a distinct different between a free weekly, bi-weekly or monthly (of which there a already many distributed in London) and a daily. The London Weekly – if there really is such a paper – will have very few similaries with London Lite, thelondonpaper, Metro or The Evening Standard.

In James Ball’s article all the weird things about the weekly are neatly summed up: who is working on the paper? Where is its office? Why the crappy website? Where does the money come from? Do they really have £10.5 million? Who is the publisher?

It could be a hoax of course… as Ball pointed out, he would be surprised if he could put a hand on the paper this Friday.

In January we devoted two post to ‘discovered’ free dailies, Hitza and Kronika, in the Basque countries in Spain. Like Catalonia and Galicia, the Basque countries have their own (often free) dailies and weeklies, published in their own language.

From Joxe Rojas, media area manager at Topagunea, the Federation of Basque Speaker Associations, I got more  information on free papers in the Basque countries, in this case several free weeklies that are published in the area:

• Anboto, based in Iurreta (Bizkaia), circulation 9,200. A 32 page in tabloid format, distributed in 12 towns of the Durangaldea region. It also operates local radio station ‘Anboto Irratia’.
• Barren, based in Elgoibar (Gipuzkoa), distributed in Elgoibar and Mendaro. 28 pages in A4 and a circulation of 4,760.
• …Eta Kitto! celebrated its 20th anniversary in 2009. Based in Eibar (Gipuzkoa). Circulation 7,950.
• Goienkaria, the result of a long merging process among several town-based magazines. Goienkaria has two editions: one distributed for free on Fridays (48 pages), with a circulation of 20,000, and a paid one on Mondays, with a circulation of 5,000. Apart from the paper there is also TV (GoiTB), radio (Arrasate Irratia) and internet (Goiena.net). Its distribution area is the region of Debagoiena (Gipuzkoa).
• Guaixe, based in Altsasu (Navarre) serves the region of Sakana. Tabloid format and 32 pages per week, with a criculation of 4,500. Publisher Bierrik is also in charge of local radio station Beleixe Irratia.
• Txintxarri, based in Lasarte-Oria (Gipuzkoa). Like Goienkaria, it has two editions per week, one on Fridays and the other on Mondays, both of them for free. It has a circulation of 7,700.