Newspaper- Metro

I think that the metro newspaper is a good source of communication and is free for users. In the summer holidays I travelled alot and the Metro was really good to kill time and keep in touch with the real world. Also I think that it makes public transport more appealing. I could look at figures to see whether the paper is succesful to persuade the rest of the class why it is good.

Public Transport - Concept free for people commuting
Website for Metro

Where did it start?

The Metro concept comes from Sweden. Metro International, a different company, launched in the UK in 1999 and in Newcastle upon Tyne was distributed side by side with the Associated Newspapers' version on the Tyne and Wear Metro system. After battling alongside the Associated Newspapers' version with the same name, it changed its name to Morning News. It was short-lived, however, and Morning Newswas discontinued shortly afterwards (see Metro International). They have had plans to launch a rivalling free evening newspaper in London. Similarly, Rupert Murdoch is said to have regretted missing the opportunity of launching his own London paper. However, News International, a UK subsidiary of Murdoch's News Corporation, launched a London-based newspaper in 2006 called thelondonpaper. This was closed on 18 September 2009.

More about the paper:

The paper was launched in London in 1999, and can now be found in 14 UK urban centres. Localised editions are distributed in Birmingham,Brighton, Cardiff, Edinburgh, Glasgow, Leeds, Manchester, Liverpool, Tyne and Wear, Sussex, Sheffield, Nottingham, Bristol and Bath. It is part of the same media group as the Daily Mail and The Mail on Sunday, although in some areas, the paper operates as a franchise with a local newspaper publisher, rather than as a wholly owned concern.

Content:

The newspaper was designed to be read in 20 minutes. The features section contains a mix of articles on travel, homes, style, health and so on, as well as extensive arts coverage and entertainment listings. The popular puzzles page contains the cartoon strip Nemi (by Lise Myhre), 118 118 (by Clive Collins) (advertisement comic strip) and This Life (by Rick Brookes),astrology readings by Nikki Harper, and Sudoku. Previously, it featured a crossword (in place of the sudoku puzzle), David J. Bodycombe's Think Tank brainteasers and a Judge Dreddstrip.

Despite the removal of the crossword, there is still a crossword compiled which is only available on the Metro website. The removal of the paper crossword caused some irritation to a lot of readers.

On 8 July 2009, With the announcement of the UK General Election, Metro's ownership by Daily Mail and General Trust has seen it following the lead given by the paid-for Daily Mail in taking an openly pro-conservative line. This has seen it publishing a series of front page articles and headlines supportive of the Conservative Party and critical of both the previous Labour Government and the Liberal Democrats.

Distribution

In its first five years, it achieved a readership of over 1 million daily readers, making it the UK's fourth largest daily newspaper, after The Sun, the Daily Mail and the Daily Mirror, although it is closing in on the Daily Mirror in terms of distribution. In October 2008, its total certified distribution for that month was 1,361,306. It now prints approximately 1.3m copies daily, and officially has some 3.5m readers, as of March 2010. This high readership is due in part to the papers being left on seats on buses, train or the Underground systems in Glasgow, Tyne and Wear, and London, and then being picked up by the next person to use that seat. Due to its urban and mainly youthful audience, advertising receipts have been very healthy at a time when its older stablemate, the Evening Standard, had not been performing so well. 62% of readers are ABC1 (upper/middle class social grade), 78% are aged 15–44 and 64% are in work

Figures.

According to the National Readership Survey, these are the most-read newspapers in the UK. This shows readership, and not sales, and these figures represent the twelve months to June 2009.

Daily newspapers
1. The Sun (7.8m)
2. The Daily Mail (4.8m)
3. The Daily Mirror (3.5m)
4. Metro (3.5m)
5. The Daily Telegraph (1.8m)
6. The Times (1.8m)
7. Daily Express (1.6m)
8. Daily Star (1.4m)
9. The Guardian (1.2m)
10. London Lite (1.1m)

Sunday newspapers
1. News of the World (7.8m)
2. The Mail on Sunday (5.4m)
3. Sunday Mirror (3.8m)
4. The Sunday Times (3.1m)
5. Sunday Express (1.6m)
6. The Sunday Telegraph (1.6m)
7. The People (1.4m)
8. The Observer (1.3m)
9. Sunday Mail (1.2m)
10. The Sunday Post (0.9m)

***Downloaded PDF *Print for evidence.

Could easily prove why it is a successful concept.