Evening Standard lite
14/12/04 12:39 Media
issues
Today sees the launch of the 'Evening Standard Lite',
the free version of London's evening paper. Most of
the commentators are saying it's there to boost the
sales of the evening paper which have been flagging
for a while - no doubt that's true, but it's also
true that Express Newspapers has been mulling a rival
launch for a while now.
Myself, I find it inconcievable that if there isn't room for one viable evening paper in the market. putting a freebie and a rival out there will help much. I do think something has to be done about commuter reading, which must account for a large per centage of periodical sales. If nobody's buying the papers that means they're stuck with the magazines instead. This might not sound disastrous for the publishing industry, but consider this: many magazines cost a figure north of £3. Many paperbacks, after a little discounting, come out at around £4-£5. So the mags, nowadays, are competing with the handier-sized, keepable and more durable book as something to buy and read on the train.
There's got to be a major shakeout sometime, and my money's on 2005 for a price war among the quality monthly mags...
Myself, I find it inconcievable that if there isn't room for one viable evening paper in the market. putting a freebie and a rival out there will help much. I do think something has to be done about commuter reading, which must account for a large per centage of periodical sales. If nobody's buying the papers that means they're stuck with the magazines instead. This might not sound disastrous for the publishing industry, but consider this: many magazines cost a figure north of £3. Many paperbacks, after a little discounting, come out at around £4-£5. So the mags, nowadays, are competing with the handier-sized, keepable and more durable book as something to buy and read on the train.
There's got to be a major shakeout sometime, and my money's on 2005 for a price war among the quality monthly mags...
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