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News International snubs DMGT freesheet truce offer

 

Daily Mail & General Trust is understood to have been rebuffed in an attempt to call a truce with News International in the costly London freesheet newspaper war.

DMGT executives approached News International to try to end the bitter loss-making battle the two companies have waged since launching their respective free afternoon papers, London Lite and the London Paper, which hit the streets in late August and early September 2006, according to sources.

Associated Newspapers, the DMGT subsidiary that also publishes morning freesheet Metro, launched London Lite in part as a defensive move to try to protect the London Evening Standard against the London Paper.

It is unclear what kind of deal DMGT was looking for in the talks, which are said to have been rejected by News International.

Now DMGT is understood to be considering a number of radical options for the struggling Evening Standard, MediaGuardian.co.uk can reveal.

These are believed to include dramatically slashing the cover price, turning the Evening Standard into a freesheet or even closing the title.

One senior newspaper source described the Evening Standard, along with the Independent and Sunday People, as "on death row", but considered the option of closure to be "staggering".

Despite the fact that the Evening Standard is loss-making, it contributes significantly towards covering the printing costs of the Associated titles, which also include the Daily Mail and Mail on Sunday.

Even if the Evening Standard were to close, DMGT would have to pay for its printing capacity.

DMGT management has already embarked on cost-saving measures for the Evening Standard.

Earlier this month, it was revealed that the Evening Standard was making further cuts to staff numbers and that the paper was cutting the number of editions it runs from three to two.

And just today it has been reported by sportsjournalists.co.ukthat the Evening Standard chief sports writer, Ian Chadband, and two sports subs are joining the exodus from the paper.

The Evening Standard job cuts come as part of a wider cost-savings drive at Associated, which could see up to 300 jobs go across the operation's London-based titles.

A recent DMGT commercial restructure has also seen Mail on Sunday ad director Simon Davies appointed to the same role across the Evening Standard and London Lite.

The Evening Standard increased circulation by 4.85% year on year to 306,747 copies a day in October, according to the latest Audit Bureau of Circulations figures released last week.

However, bulks - copies that readers can pick up free from hotels, airlines and gyms, which pay a nominal fee - accounted for about 41% of total circulation.

Of the 125,805 bulk copies sent out on average each day in October, 105,429 were distributed to airlines, 17,462 on trains and 2,175 to hotels.

Steve Auckland, the managing director of Associated's free newspaper division, said: "I believe we've had discussions with News International in the past, which is no surprise really, as they struggled from day one to make a success of the London Paper.

"We can see from today's NRS figures, London Lite has increased yet further its readership over News International's the London Paper. I expect we will be getting another call from them pretty soon."

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