The Daily Mirror, fresh from its relaunch, slashed its cover price in May last year from 32p to 20p. Although the price has since risen in some regions, in London like The Sun it continues to sell at 20p.
Trinity Mirror said at the time that the move was designed to introduce the revamped tabloid, which did away with its red-top look, to a wider audience. It has more recently been running a strong anti-war in Iraq campaign hoping to draw in a younger audience, but with little success.
At the time of the relaunch, Daily Mirror editor Piers Morgan said: "Our new look signals we are a different kind of newspaper." However, the move to appeal to a broader and more intelligent audience was blown off course by Rupert Murdoch's News International, which responded by cutting the price of the 30p Sun.
Despite winning plaudits from industry commentators, the price cut has not been a success for Trinity Mirror, which has seen sales of the Daily Mirror slump 3% year on year.
The price rise comes hot on the heels of the arrival of Sly Bailey from IPC Media as the news group's new chief executive.
The falling sales of the Daily Mirror have made it the focus of increased industry speculation as reports of bids for the paper continue to surface. Trinity Mirror chairman Sir Victor Blank has continued to reject calls to sell off the company's national newspapers to focus on its more profitable regional titles instead.
This weekend, former Mirror Group chief executive David Montgomery has been linked with a £300m 3i venture capital-backed bid for the Daily Mirror.
The bid is seen as being too low by industry analysts, who have been talking of a figure closer to £400m. USA Today publisher Gannett, which owns UK regional newspaper business Newsquest, has also been linked to a bid.
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