New Day title to brighten UK newsagents’ shelves from next Monday
Print22 February 2016
Following the recent news that print versions of the London Independent and Independent on Sunday will cease from the end of next month, the UK’s newsstands have been reinvigorated by the announcement of a new standalone title to hit shelves next week.
Trinity Mirror, the publisher of the Daily Mirror, is set to launch a new standalone national daily newspaper in the UK from next Monday, in a move which has been welcomed by the National Federation of Retail Newsagents (NFRN).
Called the New Day, the title will be published Monday to Friday and will be an entirely new newspaper, not a sister title or lighter version of the Daily Mirror.
NFRN national president Ralph Patel has described the move as “great news”.
“Since the turn of the year, the NFRN news team has been working closely with Trinity Mirror on this completely confidential and very special project and having spent time myself with editor Alison Phillips and her circulation and marketing colleagues I am delighted to fully endorse this launch,” Patel said. “It’s one that I will be giving 100% of my support to and I hope that NFRN members will do so too, with eye catching and strong displays.”
The New Day will have 40 pages and will be printed on high quality news print. The title will be available for free on its first day and then will be trialled at 25p for two weeks before retailing at 50p after that.
Editor Alison Phillips said: “There are many people who aren’t currently buying a newspaper, not because they have fallen out of love with newspapers as a format but because what is currently available on the newsstands is not meeting their needs.”
Trinity Mirror chief executive Simon Fox added: “Over a million people have stopped buying a newspaper in the past two years but we believe a large number of them can be tempted back with the right product.”
Some commentators have made comparisons between the New Day title and similarly low-priced i, the newspaper sold by Evgeny Lebedev to Johnston Press for £25m last week. It has a circulation of 270,000, with 70,000 bulks, and a cover price of 40p.
However The Guardian reports Johnston Press, the new owner of the i, was quick to differentiate its new acquisition from New Day.
“Trinity Mirror’s new paper is a very different product to the i, aimed at a very different audience,” said a spokesman for the newspaper publisher. “The i, under Johnston Press’ ownership, will remain a quality daily broadsheet, whereas New Day will be firmly mid-market. The i has growing circulation revenues and we are confident of continuing this trend.”
Fans 0
Followers