Guardian denies it has 'lite' version of paper ready to roll

by Jules Grant,, Brand Republic 28-Jan-04, 11:20

LONDON - Marc Sands, marketing director of The Guardian, has strongly denied that it has a tabloid newspaper, or a 'Guardian Lite', ready to launch contrary to earlier reports this morning.

It has been heavily rumoured that The Guardian is working on dummies of a compact or tabloid edition of the paper, with the working title "Guardian Lite", ready to launch imminently lin major commuter markets.

It was reported that the paper was working on a more radical version than that so far produced by The Times and The Independent, with content specifically created for the smaller format.

However, Sands strongly dismissed rumours this morning, saying only that Guardian Newspapers was looking into the idea.

"Of course we are looking into developing a compact version of our broadsheet, which newspaper isn't?" he said. "But to say we are launching a title called Guardian Lite is absolute rubbish. We are at the same stage as we were months ago," Sands said.

The Guardian reported a 2.9% drop in sales in the December ABCs, taking its circulation down to 375,073, which was the biggest fall among the broadsheets. However, there is no evidence to suggest that it has been losing readers to the compact versions of The Times and The Independent.

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