IoS relaunch to offer new advertiser opportunities

Robin Parker, Media Week, 29 May 2007, 12:00AM

The Independent on Sunday is to be the first tabloid-sized Sunday newspaper to run full-page ads on its back page when it relaunches this weekend.

Like other tabloids, the paper has previously used the back page of its main section for sport, which will now start on the inside back cover.

Other quality press sometimes run full-page ads on the back of their news sections, but because they are a larger format, these ads are not immediately visible to readers as the front of the section is folded around other supplements.

The IoS has promised advertisers more colour slots and a more formulaic layout throughout to help planners book against specifically sized pieces of editorial.

The title is also offering advertisers the opportunity to run strip ads on a new weekly double-page centre spread feature.

The paper will now be published in just two tabloid-size 96-page sections. The first is led by news and comment and also features travel and sport, plus a bound-in 24-page business section.

The IoS said the front page will have the production values of a news magazine.

The second, The New Review, is a slightly larger, full-colour version of The Sunday Review magazine incorporating elements of its former ABC supplement, including a central arts and books section and TV listings.

IoS editor Tristan Davies said Sunday papers were out of step with how people spend their weekends.

"I don't see much point in us being a compact version of the traditional Sunday paper," he said.

"We wanted to offer an alternative to the relentless page after page of news in papers that have bulked out beyond belief."

The IoS will also receive branding on The Independent's website, independent.co.uk, for the first time, which will feature blogs from the paper's journalists.

The publisher has told media agencies that the move is not a cost-cutting exercise and will, in fact, be more expensive as the paper will have more pages.

One buyer, impressed by dummies of the new look, said the redesign would not lead to more sales of The Independent on weekdays.

"They're chasing light readers who want all the news in one place, once a week," he said.

This article was first published on Media Week