Associated scraps Standard Lite for new freesheet

by Ian Darby, Campaign 16-Aug-06, 11:00

LONDON - Associated Newspapers has confirmed that it plans to fight back against News International's thelondonpaper with its own afternoon freesheet.

It will launch London Lite, a free London title, next month, although a specific date has yet to be confirmed.

The title will have a print run of between 300,000 and 400,000 and will be distributed in the Zone 1 area by Standard vendors and distributors.

The launch of London Lite also sees Associated scrapping Standard Lite, the free edition of the Standard it launched in late 2004. Standard Lite has an average circulation of 78,986.

Associated is still working on dummies of the title, which is expected to appear in early September, ahead of thelondonpaper's September 18 launch.

As revealed in Campaign last week, the Standard is set to increase its cover price to 50p as part of a attempt to position itself as "London's quality newspaper".

The Standard is also relaunching its This is London (thisislondon.co.uk) website to provide more indepth entertainment and news information. The title's paid-for circulation fell by 19.3% in July to 300,993.

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