Lite reaches end of the road

The title's impending demise is no big surprise: after thelondonpaper closed, speculation was rife that the London Lite would soon follow suit. The focus now swings to the London Evening Standard, which went free on 12 October and upped its distribution to 600,000 copies a day. Will it change its strategy now it has the London afternoon market to itself?

Lite, Standard and the future of London's press sector

What now for the morning Tube newspaper contract?
The focus switches to the contract to distribute newspapers on the Tube in the morning. Metro will bid for the contract, which runs for seven-and-a-half years from next March. The concession holder is allowed to distribute free news-papers at about 250 Tube and 20 bus stations across the capital.
But the Standard is not bidding. Some claim Associated's sale of the Standard to Alexander Lebedev in January included a clause preventing him from bidding for the Tube contract. News International is also understood not to be bidding.

Will the Standard change its strategy?
Not significantly in the immediate future. Currently distributing 600,000 free copies a day, Lebedev could increase distribution to about 800,000 copies.
It is thought Lebedev attempted to hasten the closure of the London Lite over a month ago when he served notice on an editorial contract under which the Standard provides content to the Lite.
What does this all mean for Associated Newspapers?
The loss-making Lite is thought to have had profitable weeks since thelondonpaper closed, but owner Associated had concerns about the title's long-term sustainability.
The closure of the London Lite puts 36 jobs at risk, but some could be redeployed within Associated. The Lite, like the London Evening Standard, serviced its distribution from distributor The Network, employing more than 300 vendors. A proportion of these could now be used by the Standard.

The media agency verdict

Vanessa Clifford, head of press, Mindshare
Although editorially very different, London Lite and thelondonpaper encouraged people to make an evening paper a habit again and some readers will migrate to the Standard. I don't think we can expect the same of advertisers.
 
Dominic Williams, press director, Carat
The closure of the Lite is a bad thing. Advertisers will miss being able to target 400,000 consumers daily, and it means fewer "creative" opportunities. The Standard will pick up some ad money, but it remains to be seen whether it will be able to fully capitalise.

Paul Thomas, investment director, Mindshare
London Lite's closure would leave the market with just the Evening Standard to pander to commuters' news appetite. Now it finds itself in this exclusive position, it surely gives it every chance to carve itself a market as a free quality evening newspaper.

Alan Brydon, head of press and outdoor communi-cations, MPG
My suspicion is that it won't have a massive effect - but that won't be any concern for the Evening Standard if it wants to retain its
editorial quality, core upmarket readership
and high levels of retention.