Telegraph Group managing director Hugo Drayton said that sales of The Daily Telegraph had been affected by The Times' compact edition and, to a lesser extent, by that of The Independent. He confirmed a compact edition would be on sale within three to four weeks. "We've not been as affected as The Guardian, but our lead over The Times on weekdays has dropped below 300,000," said Drayton. "It's a big decision, which would be easier to make if our future ownership was known. We will wait a few weeks to see if that is resolved, but we cannot afford to wait for months."
Drayton added that The Daily Telegraph had not reacted immediately to The Times' launch because of concerns over whether advertisers would be prepared to pay the same amount for a tabloid page as a broadsheet page.
Furthermore, he claimed The Times has added significantly to its costs since launching its compact edition. "It is printing about 400,000 compact copies and selling little more than 150,000, which is a criminal waste."
The paper is also taking on the Financial Times with the launch of a supplement from The New York Times to appear in The Daily Telegraph's weekly business section.
The supplement, The New York Times International Weekly, appears from today (Thursday) and includes US news, business coverage and culture.
The supplement is being launched by a consortium of international newspapers, including Le Monde and International Herald Tribune. Partners are being sought in Germany, Italy and Spain.
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