Guardian gears up to offer 'Lite' compact edition

by Colin Grimshaw, Marketing 29-Jan-04

The Guardian has prepared dummies of a compact edition with the working title Guardian Lite, as it gears up for an imminent launch in major commuter markets.

Tabloid editions launched by The Independent and The Times contained the entire contents of the broadsheet versions. But The Guardian is working on a more radical version, with editorial and design created specifically for the smaller format.

Industry observers believe that while the approach taken by The Independent and The Times was simpler to execute and has been modestly successful, a cut-down edition may hold more appeal for commuters. They point to the success of Metro, the free commuter tabloid, with its easy-to-digest content and design.

The Guardian's strategy is partly a result of the large number of pages it runs on certain days of the week. A compact edition would need to accommodate its huge volume of recruitment ads.

No launch date has been set. Newstrade rumours of a February launch appear to be wide of the mark, with March or April more likely.

Although there is little evidence that The Guardian has been losing readers to the tabloid editions of The Independent and The Times, the newspaper reported a 2.9% drop in sales in the December ABCs - the biggest fall among the broadsheets.