... two months after News International’s free thelondonpaper printed its last issue. To the delight of London Evening Standard owner Alexander Lebdev, Lite has been squeezed out of the market entirely by the now-free Standard which claims to distributes close to 600,000 copies each weekday.
Steve Auckland, head of Associated’s free division obliquely refers to theStandard’s free onslaught as the main driver behind the decision: “The latest development in the London afternoon free newspaper space dictates that we look again at the future of London Lite. Despite reaching a large audience with an excellent editorial format, we are concerned about the commercial viability in this highly competitive area”.
That leaves DMGT with just the daily, morning title Metro in its free stable—that title recently laid off some 30 regional arts journalists to counteract the downturn. The Standard now has a free reign in the capital’s evening newspaper market and a much better chance of making its surprise freebie model work.
Associated says in a statement that it’s only consulting on the future of the paper, a process that “may” result in closure—but it’s only saying this because 36 staff jobs are at risk and a statutory consultation period has to happen before anyone can be laid off. It is thought that Lite enjoyed some profitable weeks in the absence of thelondonpaper but it’s clear that it simply could not complete with the sheer editorial, commercial (and physical) weight of the Standard.
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