Newspaper Innovation

The real thing – in terms of free newspapers – is also available in the Swedish capital.

Traditional newspaper boxes, with the main news of the day displayed on the front, containing the mother of all free newspapers: Metro Stockholm.

Metro started in Stockholm on February 13 1995 with a circulation of 200,000 copies. In 1998 it expanded to Gothenburg, a year later to Malmö. In 2004 a national edition was introduced.

Circulation in 2012 is more than 600,000. The Swedish edition is still one of the most profitable editions for Metro International.

Metro survived national competitors City (Bonnier 2002-2008) and Punkt.SE (Schibsted, 2006-2008). In 2012 there are also local free dailies in Malmö, Lund, Upsala, Norrköping, Kristianstad, Landskrona and Helsingborg. Their total circulation is 120,000.

Although Stockholm is a one-free-paper-town since 2008, the first free newspaper I encountered yesterday was not Metro.

The Arlanda Express train station in central Stockholm had several boxes filled with Dagens Industri, the Swedish financial paper. Normally the paper sells for 30 Kronen (€3.40).

Giving papers away is not limited to Dagens Industri of course. In the hotel I could choose from all Swedish papers (including Dagens Industri) but also the Financial Times was available. Airports are also great places for getting (paid) newspapers for free.

At my university  library I often pick up a free copy of the Wall Street Journal.

After Metro Colombia, also Metro Holland introduced a new design (left) for the free daily (click for bigger version).

The new look by Alfredo Triviño who was also responsible for the current design, is more “serious” with less colour and smaller headings. Metro Denmark will also soon introduce the new design.

From January 2 on, readers who send in a picture that is used for the Dutch edition of Metro, will be paid for their efforts.

Metro is cooperating with Scoopshot, a service that works for professional and amateur photographers. Photographers have to download an app for either Android (right) or iPhone to offer news photo’s.

In some cases Metro will ask for photo’s on special occasions and set the price in advance, but users can also upload other photo’s and define their own price. Media have 48 hours to buy the picture – if a picture is bought exclusively the price is 10 times as high.

In Denmark and Sweden, Metro already uses Scoopshot for reader-photo’s. Also other media – particularly in Finland – have used Scoopshop photo’s.

Winners of Metro Photo Challenge are now online. Great pics.

Distributing free newspapers in the subway of Rome will be more expensive from 2012 on. Also the winner of the bid will have to provide more space in the paper for the Rome city counsel.

Companies have to make a bid – apparently for exclusive distribution rights – before January 12 2012. Publishers think the price is too high while the conditions are also difficult to meet. (Affaritaliani)

The fierce competition between free dailies in Italy has cause Leggo to shut down all regional editions outside Rome and Milan.

Three companies are now publishing free dailies in Rome: Caltagirone (Leggo), RSC Media group (City), DNews and Litosud (Metro).

Swiss TV channel StarTV has a 10 minute program on “the making of Blick am Abend”, the Swiss free evening paper by Ringier. The program is also posted on StarTV’s YouTube Channel (via Persoenlich).

Karl Lagerfeld will be the Global Guest Editor of Metro on February 7th, 2012. (photo from & story at metronieuws.nl)

After the huge success of the Lady Gaga’s guest editorship in May, Lagerfeld will be the second guest editor of the international free daily.

After Metro France announced that it would expand distribution from 30 to 60 cities in 2012, also competitor 20 Minutes said it would be available in more cities from January 2012 on.

20 Minutes, jointly owned by Norwegian media group Schibsted and Sofiouest (Groupe Ouest France), will go from 32 to 40 markets. In March of this year the paper already added 20 new markets by introducing an general ‘France’ edition for some smaller cities.

20 Minutes did not name the new markets but claims it will be available in 98% of the ‘urban areas’ (AFP).

Consequences for circulation are not clear yet, the new ‘France’ edition has a circulation of 130,000 in September 2011, bringing total circulation of 20 Minutes (13 editions) to more than 1 million.

Also the DirectPlus papers (13 editions) have a joint circulation of 1 million. Metro (9 editions) has a circulation of 750,000. Direct Soir is not audited, the publisher claims a circulation of 400,000.

Total market share of free dailies in France is around 30%.

The San Francisco Examiner – once owned by William Randolph Hearst – will be sold by Philip Anschutz’ Clarity Media to the Canadian Black Press newspaper group.

The Washington edition of the Examniner and the more than 100 local comminuty websites will stay with Clarity Media. The Baltimore edition of the paper was closed in 2009.

Black Press owns some newspapers in the US, like Akron Beacon Journal (Ohio), the Honolulu Star-Advertiser and local papers in Washington State. In Canada it owns – among others – a chain of 18 local free dailies.

The Examiner went free in 2003 and was bought by Anschutz in 2004. Clarity introduced door-to-door delivery and increased circulation. Recently, however, home-delivery is restricted to only two days a week. The paper is available in San Francisco in racks.

The sale is expected to be effected on November 30.