However, the London Evening Standard said that, in the two weeks of May after the relaunch, paid-for sales were up 4.5% month on month. The London Evening Standard stressed the headline circulation figure of 210,901 includes the two weeks before the relaunch and does not include the free papers given out on the relaunch day.
The London Evening Standard is changing its distribution strategy, giving out fewer bulk copies via airlines and increasing the number of free copies available in London. It is also looking to move to a regional ABC audit.
The circulation of both News International and Associated Northcliffe's free evening papers in the capital, thelondonpaper and London Lite respectively, remained steady in May.
Thelondonpaper's circulation of 500,291 for May 2009 is up fractionally from 500,235 in May last year, while the London Lite was down slightly from 401,421 to 400,988.
On Tuesday, Media Week reported that News International would be interested in launching a morning version of Thelondonpaper should it beat Associated Newspapers to the lucrative contract to distribute morning newspapers on the London Underground.
The circulation of MetroLondon, Associated's morning paper which currently holds the Tube contract, fell 1.3% year on year, to 736,860.
City AM, the free financial morning newspaper which expanded its distribution two months ago, posted a circulation rise of 5.7% year on year, to 107,510.
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