Two more casualties in Danish freebie war
After the closure of Metro Aften in Copenhagen (December 2006), JPArhus+ (March 2007) and Dato (April 2007), also the two editions of Centrum in the Northern town of Aalborg will be axed. Centrum Morgen and Centrum Aften (combined circulation around 90,000) were successors of the free daily 10 Minutter that was launched already in 2002. In August 2006, publisher Nordjyllands Avisselskab (paid paper Nordjyske Stiftstidende), converted the morning paper into Centrum Morgen and added a home delivered evening edition Centrum Aften to compete with the planned 24timer, Dato and Nyhedsavisen (see previous).
Officially Centrum will be ‘merged’ with 24timer after the summer, like JPArhus+ (see previous). Because of the merger publishers Nordjyske Stiftstidende and JP/Politiken will both participate in the Aalborg edition of 24timer, Nordjyske will be responsible for local content and advertising. Because 24timer already had an Aalborg edition, total circulation will go down with at least 50% in Aalborg. Both papers are very happy about the merger according to Politiken because of the synergy.