Newspaper The Saturday Times
Owner News International
What's happened? The paper has been redesigned
Readers were asked what they wanted. One of the key findings was that they found the old Saturday Times difficult to navigate through the "Russian doll effect", where different sections were folded inside one another. This has now been dropped. The aim of the revamp is to increase Saturday circulation by offering more of a weekend feel to the whole Saturday package.
The Saturday Review section has been expanded and reverts to a broadsheet format, which is a bit of a masterstroke in my opinion, as it helps break up the confusion of a series of tabloid sections.
A strong sport section is a key driver in attracting a male weekend audience, and this has been given the prominence it deserves with a stand-alone section. The coverage is much more in-depth and has Gary Lineker as a new columnist.
Business and Money (formerly stand-alone) are in the back half of the main paper and Money has expanded, which makes sense at a time of such financial uncertainty.
At the heart of this much-improved layout is a 68-page Weekend section covering Body & Soul and Travel (formerly in the main body), as well as Food and Drink. This section defines the Weekend package by merging all these sections together.
The supplements have also been revamped, with the Times magazine increasing its Style section.
The listings have been cleaned up and are now called The Playlist, but I can't help thinking they have used The Guardian's Guide for inspiration. News International has given its readers what they want, rather than forced changes for commercial reasons.
What's good?
The new sport section is very impressive and really helps give the newspaper that weekend feel.
What could be better?
There is still plenty of room for improvement with The Times magazine, as I don't think it is the finished article yet.
Would I book my clients into this?
The Saturday Times has far more strength in depth in terms of advertising opportunities across all the sections, so I would say yes.
Martin Donnelly, press manager, Universal McCann