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The Independent is taking on The Guardian’s Saturday Guide with the

launch of its own arts listings guide as an additional supplement to its

Saturday edition.

The guide, called The Eye, will be an arts listings and TV guide in a

‘quartofold’ format, similar to the guide it produced for the Edinburgh

Festival.

The Eye will carry The Independent’s eagle logo. It will be published

nationally from October 12.

It claims to have more colour and innovative design than other listings

guides. It will also feature articles on arts events, including theatre,

cinema, ballet and opera.

‘Some guides are too unwieldy, but this will give comprehensive coverage

in a handy size,’ said The Independent’s recently promoted managing

director Jeremy Reed.

Reed faces the challenge of reversing The Independent’s declining

circulation. It stands at 266,802 for August 1996 (ABC), down a further

0.6% since July. Circulation as a whole is down 7.6% since the same

period last year.

However, Saturday is the most popular edition of The Independent.

Readership is 28% higher on this day. It has 1,020,000 Saturday readers

compared with 793,000 for the Monday to Friday editions (NRS January to

June 1996).

‘The Saturday product is increasing in size and the value-added aspects

are improving all the time. We are offering readers as comprehensive a

package as they get elsewhere,’ said Reed.

Colin Gottlieb, joint partner of Manning Gottlieb Media, said: ‘You have

to give them credit for fighting to add value to the package. But there

is still the big issue of what will stop the decline in circulation.’

The Eye is one of a number of changes being introduced to The

Independent. A new education recruitment section on Thursdays launches

on October 10, aimed at the university and higher education markets.

In addition, further changes to the paper will be introduced over the

next few weeks.