29 Jan 10

New freesheet launch in London

Planner/Buyer, Lesley Robertson reports....

In the last few months of 2009 many believed that the London freesheet battle was at an end (following years of backbiting, accusations of unlawful dumping and counter-claims of ‘dirty tricks’) after the demise of both London Lite and The London Paper. These closures paved the way for ‘paid-for turned free’ Evening Standard to make its mark in freesheet London with a monopoly on the market – a strong-hold it has maintained since September last year, however…

Next Friday (5th February) sees the launch of London Weekly – a new player to the freesheets world. Global Publishing Group has confirmed to MediaGuardian.co.uk that their new paper will be hitting the streets next week (following the launch of the dedicated website www.thelondonweekly.co.uk on the 20th December) and will be a ‘brand new free unique weekly newspaper which bridges the gap between nationals, Sunday tabloids and dailies’.

Through their own website, GPG have indicated that the paper will be distributed every Friday & Saturday morning outside the main tube lines in London with an initial circulation of 250k. Content will include politics, business, popular culture, human interest, giveaways, sport, lifestyle, travel, fashion, food & drink and motoring – so very much aimed squarely at the same target audiences as its predecessors and with a strong focus on entertainment. According to GPG ‘the least interrupted and most receptive time of the week is FRIDAY & SATURDAY. The London Weekly readers will have to focus on everyday work schedules and a weekly newspaper that covers the best of the week, a guide to the best places and things to do in the weekend and more is just what is needed to get you phased through the start of an exciting weekend before you go into town for a spot of shopping...’

So based on this information it sounds as though London Weekly – despite relying on a typical newspaper format – will not be a direct competitor for the Evening Standard due to its weekly distribution and more ‘entertainment and light relief’ feel. This also suggests that, along with the Evening Standard, other titles such as Shortlist and Stylist (and to a lesser extent Sport) with their lifestyle-based content will be keeping a close watch on how London Weekly performs.

Ultimately until London Weekly hits the streets and you can see the actual quality of content, style, layout etc it is very difficult to quantify exactly what kind of effect the new launch will have on the current London freesheet market…but we do know one thing – with another player in the freesheet world, the market is definitely hotting up once again.