After the initial shock passed, the industry has been left asking whether advertisers will care that regional freesheet thelondonpaper is to be consigned to the scrapheap.
Launched in the buoyant conditions of 2006, the title was to be funded entirely by advertising, but it never became the moneyspinner that publisher News International (NI) had expected. In the year to the end of June 2008, it recorded a pre-tax loss of nearly £13m; its deficit in this recessionary year is likely to be much greater.
The dire nature of the publication's situation was evident in the low numbers of ads in the title this month. August may traditionally be a quiet time for ad sales, but when the decision to close thelondonpaper was announced last Thursday, there were just four full-page ads in a 44-page edition.
Chris Locke, trading director at media agency Starcom MediaVest, suggests the paper's fate was a reflection of the wider economic situation. 'The new financial year started in July for NI, so I suppose it had to decide whether it wanted another year of pain, or to cut its losses,' he says.
At its launch, in September 2006, thelondonpaper was pitted against Associated Newspapers' London Lite. NI's aim was to steal some of the market from Associated's morning freesheet Metro. This was never going to be easy, as ads for the latter can be booked as part of a national schedule. Moreover, because it is distributed on a help-yourself basis in railway and Tube stations from early morning, it has a more defined target audience and lower overheads. The-london-paper and London Lite pay distributors to hand out their newspapers.
All eyes will now be on London Lite to see what is makes of its opportunity to dominate the capital's evening free-sheet market. 'The paper will have to look at how to take advantage and strengthen its position,' says Rob Lynam, head of national press trading at mediaedge.cia. 'London Lite has a bigger share of advertisers, and there are still some creative opportunities.'
Future plans
London Lite is not commenting on its future plans, and it is not even known whether the title will increase its print run. Regarding ad rates, London Lite has a reputation for being much more flexible than thelondonpaper. The two had an 80% audience overlap, so it is little surprise that advertisers favoured the cheaper option.
Some industry insiders are not convinced that London Lite will benefit from the closure of its rival. 'The London Lite could also be shut within weeks. There are too many newspapers and the market is refining itself,' says Dominic Williams, press director at media agency Carat. 'The only thing advertisers will miss is the creativity. With the freesheets you can do any-thing with ads, but with paid-for papers it's a whole different kettle of fish.'
If the freesheet market disappears completely, the main beneficiary will be the Evening Standard, which has a clear target audience.
Media agencies suggest that readers preferred thelondonpaper's content to London Lite's and the title certainly worked hard to offer a good read, with clear sections for fashion, nightlife and listings. It also trumpeted its credentials as a 'green' paper, providing recycling boxes and using recycled paper.
The closure of thelondonpaper seems to serve as a stark reminder of how hard the press has been hit by the recession. However, the reasons for its demise are wider. Even a city of London's size can-not sustain three evening titles and the target audience for the freesheets is far from concrete.
Nonetheless, NI may not pull out of the freesheet market altogether. Dennis Perks, press manager at media agency Total Media, says that when Metro's contract with London Tube and railway stations ends next year, it could be forced out by a competitor.
'News International was expected to just outbid everyone else to get that contract,' he says. 'There is a chance that, because it is close to securing it, the company just wants to concentrate on launching a new morning title.'
NI is refusing to say whether it is still in the running, but all will become clear next month when the tender list for the contract will be released.
Thelondonpaper is unlikely to be mourned greatly by advertisers. Similarly, its readers should have no difficulty in finding an alternative source of news and gossip in the saturated, multi-platform environment.