When Associated Newspapers launched Metro in 1999, beating Metro International to the London market, no one could have foreseen how far the freesheet sector would have developed almost a decade later. A recent YouGov survey shows that, despite concerns over quality and street clutter, freesheets have become an integral part of the commuter experience.
Some 65% of London commuters have read either Metro, London Lite or thelondonpaper at least once in a four-week period and more than two in three readers claim they would miss free newspapers if they weren't available. The Evening Standard, with a readership of 633,000 against an ABC circulation of 292,455, has had to respond to pressure from the freesheet revolution. Evening Standard managing director Andrew Mullins says: "Yes, we got a jolt when the frees launched, but we've now stabilised and our paid-for circulation is declining at a slower rate than before the frees launched. To compensate, we have increased our distribution of complimentary copies to the likes of business class airlines and first-class rail travel. These are well-targeted sampling, which our partners pay us a revenue for and our readers place great value on receiving."
City AM
When City AM launched in 2005 it was "hanging on to the coat-tails of the City", according to the title's managing director Lawson Muncaster. But the advantage of a 1am final press deadline, enabling up-to-the-minute reporting of global financial news, quickly made it a sought-after business resource.
GroupM managing director, print trading, Steve Goodman, says: "City AM has a well-defined target audience and quality editorial. We use it for clients within the financial services markets and luxury brand advertisers targeting its affluent readership."
City AM readers have an average age of 40 and earn about £97,000. It's distributed at seven London stations between 6.30am and 9.30am to catch traders, bankers, analysts and stockbrokers. With an ABC circulation of 88,042, it also has an office direct distribution to 1,500 companies and covers hedge fund hotspots such as Richmond, as well as the City and Canary Wharf financial districts. New Brandface research reveals City AM's daily reach has increased from 23% in 2007 to 32% this year, while the FT's has dipped from 22% to 20%. City AM's weekly reach has expanded from 33% to 49% in the same period, while the FT's is up by just 1%, to 37%.
Muncaster says: "I see the paper sitting at more than 170,000 copies in the next few years."
thelondonpaper
Despite News International having to quell speculation that the writing was on the wall for thelondonpaper earlier this year, the freesheet still has its supporters among media planners. Mindshare's head of communication planning Nick Ashley says: "Thelondonpaper has a more youth-focused brand proposition than London Lite. It's younger in its editorial output and hits the nail on the head when it comes to entertainment for commuters."
The average reader age is 34 and the majority live in south-east London. YouGov detects that younger men prefer thelondonpaper, while younger women opt for London Lite.
Thelondonpaper's marketing director Liz Westcott says: "Our readers are from the generation that doesn't expect to pay for valuable media. We researched commuter moods and discovered that, on the evening commute, people are more relaxed, with a feeling of anticipation and excitement about their plans. Our offering matches this mood."
With an average reading time of 13 minutes and an average London commute of 52 minutes, Westcott is aware that thelondonpaper's readers desire more content.
The audience embraces free digital media such as Skype, YouTube and Instant Messenger, and suitable enhancements to Thelondonpaper.com will follow.
Metro
Metro has an ABC circulation of 1,359,261, distributed across 16 British cities. According to the National Readership Survey, Metro's readership has topped three million.
In the late '90s, the rationale for launching Metro was simple - 11 million people in work were not reading a daily newspaper. This group comprised young, upmarket, working urbanites. The paper is designed to be read during a 24-minute commute by an affluent readership aged between 18 and 44.
From October 2007, Metro increased its distribution by 250,000, with an additional 205,000 copies in London and 45,000 copies spread out among eight other regions. Just as it pioneered freesheets, assistant managing director Karen Wall now expects Metro to lead the way with its digital brand extensions. MEView, a video-sharing portal that financially rewards users for adding ads to their films, was launched in March. In August, Metro launched e-Metro and set up Metro Mobile, delivering content straight to readers' phones.
"Metro has eight different platforms that advertisers can use to reach urbanites, including online, sampling and reader databases," says Wall.
Sport
The launch of Sport in September 2006 took just six weeks, taking the best bits of its French edition and adjusting it for the UK market. With two-thirds of advertising linked to sporting brands or an association with sport, and one-third linked to lifestyle, it is not surprising that 85% of its 315,406 circulation is under 45 years old and 75% is male.
Managing director Greg Miall says: "We went out looking for an 80% ABC1 readership and worked out the demographic at every Tube station. As a result, the average income of a Sport reader is £44,570, which is 60% higher than GQ's, and we have the highest ABC1 profile in the men's magazine sector."
Due to printing methods, Sport is the only commuter title to carry cover tip-ons, which have included fragrant strips for L'Oreal and sachets for VO5. Miall confesses that its website, Sport-magazine.co.uk, is yet to become a key area of the business.
ShortList
ShortList has two distribution models. Each Thursday, between 7am and 10am, it distributes 481,320 copies across 10 cities by hand or via distribution points at Cannons gyms, French Connection stores, business airline lounges and premium Eurostar carriages. Eighty-five businesses also subscribe to ShortList to have distribution stands in their foyers.
ShortList targets men who don't buy lifestyle magazines. Managing director Karl Marsden says: "Sixty-five per cent of ShortList readers haven't read another men's mag for three months. It's read by urban executives, with an average age of 30, who enjoy sport, clubbing, gigs and films."
The magazine's display advertising targets entertainment, male grooming, mobile and technology.
Marsden describes ShortList.com as "the thinking man's five-minute break". "The website features bespoke content on all our brand areas of interest," he says. "We take all the mainstream advertising formats, plus we create bespoke digital solutions."
London Lite
London Lite, with an ABC circulation of 401,543, has a readership of slightly more than one million and an average of 2.6 readers per copy, according to the National Readership Survey's latest 12-month data. Its readership is 58,000 ahead of thelondonpaper, which, despite distributing 100,000 more copies, has a readership of only 963,000.
Almost 80% of London Lite readers are 18 to 34 years old. Editorially, it covers news, showbusiness, gossip, sport and a free listings and entertainment guide. Its online offer is tied in with ThisisLondon.com. The website, previously aligned with the Evening Standard, switched last October to the more entertainment-based ThisisLondon. Karen Wall, assistant managing director of Metro and London Lite, says: "We will continue to develop digital channels - our younger readership texts more in the afternoon and is responsive to competitions and our Get It Off Your Text column."