Murdoch focusing on the global threat from free papers

by Daniel Farey-Jones,, Brand Republic 03-Feb-05, 10:40

LONDON - Rupert Murdoch has said News Corporation is 'devising strategies' to contend with the rise of free newspapers around the world, and admitted his concern that Metro is stealing readers from The Sun.

The comments will increase speculation that News International will launch a free newspaper of its own in London, with Richard Desmond and Metro International also in the frame.

London mayor Ken Livingstone indicated last month that he wants competition in free newspaper distribution in London and is looking to bring an end to Daily Mail & General Trust's current exclusive arrangement with London Underground.

Desmond has long talked of launching a free London evening paper, called London-i, to rival the Evening Standard and the mayor's recent announcement brought that closer to becoming a reality.

Murdoch estimated that the Metro nationally has taken 30,000-40,000 Sun readers, as well as 20,000-30,000 readers from other newspapers. Metro's UK distribution is around 1m copies.

The Sun's six-month average circulation is currently 3.3m, down 4.37% year on year from 3.45m.

He also expressed caution about the view that free newspapers introduce new readers to paid newspapers.

In connection with Sky, however, he took the opposite view, claiming that the Freeview platform would give people a taste of multichannel TV, leading them to Sky's superior offering.

Sky yesterday announced it had added 192,000 new subscribers through a marketing blitz that raised its subscriber acquisition cost from £207 a customer a year ago to £230.

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