London – Global media tycoon Rupert Murdoch on Monday launched thelondonpaper, diving into London’s already crowded market for free newspapers – a relatively new but increasingly lucrative source of media revenue.
The afternoon daily faces fierce competition from the newly launched London Lite, published by Associated Newspapers, a part of Daily Mail and General Trust PLC.
“It’s gladiatorial combat,” said Roy Greenslade, a professor of journalism at City University in London, “and consumers and advertisers are going be sitting in the Colosseum.”
More than 400,000 copies of the 48-page paper were planned for the first run, said News International, the main British subsidiary of Murdoch’s News Corp.
The publisher had previously announced that it would begin distribution on Sept. 18, but the date was pushed forward in a bid to compete with its Associated Newspapers rival, launched last Wednesday.
Each newspaper hopes to establish itself as the market leader before bidding begins for exclusive afternoon use of the newspaper racks scattered throughout the London subway system, which is used by more than 3 million commuters daily.
Those racks are currently occupied by Metro, Associated Newspapers’ free morning daily, which has been extremely popular with Londoners since its launch in 1999, claiming a readership of 1.8 million at a time when readership for paid-circulation newspapers has declined steadily nationwide.
James Simpson, a Transport for London spokesman, said the racks would be emptied in the afternoon to make way for whichever paper was awarded the contract for use during the evening commute.
