More free papers in Spain

Spain has become the most prolific place for free daily newspapers, with three of the nation's four major dailies being given away. Is there room now for a free evening newspaper? Editor's Weblog asked the editors of Spain's major papers that question. What do you think they said?

Switch to tab doesn't work for WSJ

Reuters is reporting that the Wall Street Journal's switch from a broadsheet to a tabloid format forits Asian and European editions has not been well received by readers. Dow Jones & Co. plans to "retool" the papers, but wasn't more specific than that. Chief executive Richard Zannino said some readers feel "there is less of a paper than before." He had hoped that readers would see that there have been no content changes and that it is only a matter of becoming accustomed to the new size.

Palo Alto Daily's editor quits -- or is fired

Anyone who is watching the growth of the free daily industry is probably tuned into the switch in management at the Palo Alto Daily News. The PADN is probably the most successful free daily newspaper in the United States. Under previous owners Dave Price and Jim Pavelich, the paper was growing, profitable, winning awards, busting out new editions and taking chances. Since they sold the paper to Knight Ridder in 2005, and new management took over in January 2006, things appear to have changed.

Take this week's departure of longtime columnist and editor Diana Diamond. According to the Palo Alto Weekly, the Daily's new publisher, Shareef Dajani, says "We both agreed to go our own way." Turns out, he fired her -- at least that's what she told the Palo Alto Weekly. Dajani hasn't rebutted the charge.

The way Diamond tells it, one day Dajani told her he had a number of problems with her work and a couple of days later, he lowered the boom without giving her a chance to correct what ever alleged problems existed. And then he immediately had a replacement -- an editor he used to work with at the paper in Alameda, Calif.

Diamond says the PADN is suffering under Knight Ridder -- the Monday issue of the San Mateo Daily News was eliminated to save money, deadlines were moved forward to San Jose Mercury and Contra Costa Times evening deadlines, and hiring freeze has reduced the paper's newsroom capabilities.

Free daily starts in Santa Barbara, Calif.

The newspaper business in Santa Barbara has seen some tumultuous changes in the past six years. In 2000, Wendy McCaw, who became a billionaire when she divorced husband and cell phone pioneer Jeff McCaw, bought her hometown newspaper, the 45,000-circulation Santa Barbara News-Press from the New York Times. As soon as the ink was dry on the sale papers, McCaw was using the News-Press as a vehicle to attack the California Coastal Commission because it wouldn't let her block access to 500 feet of beachfront by her home. (This Forbes article suggests she's a strange woman.) Key staffers bolted from the paper, some going to the crosstown weekly. There was talk of starting another daily in Santa Barbara to compete against what the News-Press had become, but nobody did it.

Until now.

A former staffer at the Palo Alto Daily News, 23-year-old Jeramy Gordon, moved to Santa Barbara and launched the Daily Sound. Gordon said he got the idea to start a free paper from his former bosses and mentors Dave Price and Jim Pavelich. Price and Pavelich founded the Daily News Group, a chain of six free dailies in the Bay Area, which were sold to Knight Ridder in 2005. Gordon worked at the Daily News for four years, his last year as managing editor. “Free dailies are the wave of the future,” Gordon said. “As more and more people get tired of buying those big awkward broadsheet newspapers, they’ll see just how valuable our product is.”

• Peninsula Press Club write up
• Daily Sound's press release about its launch
• Santa Barbara's weekly manages to give a whole paragraph to the town's new newspaper

Alison Draper named publisher of Quick

The Dallas Observer's publisher, Alison Quick, is jumping ship for Quick, the free daily being published by the Dallas Morning News. Draper began her career at the Dallas Observer in classified sales and later served in several positions, including retail account executive, sales director, advertising director and associate publisher, before becoming publisher in 2001. While she was publisher, Draper was also sales and marketing director of Village Voice Media.

"Alison has a proven track record of delivering results for advertisers who want to connect with younger readers," said Jim Moroney, publisher and CEO of The Dallas Morning News and its affiliate publications, including Quick. "Quick has been successful in delivering this younger audience since we launched it three years ago, and we are confident that she can build on that momentum going forward."

Draper emphasized that the content direction of Quick will not change under her leadership.

"Quick is a publication I strongly believe in, and I have been impressed with its steady growth," said Draper. "The best part is that its content formula is already working well, and I am eager to join with the talented staff of Quick to build on its accomplishments."

Tampa Bay Times goes from weekly to daily

The paid St. Petersburg Times says it is expanding its free weekly, tbt*, to a daily starting March 6. The paper launched in September 2004 as a vehicle to connect advertisers to younger readers, those in the 18-34 demo.

"Since the debut of Tampa Bay Times, readers and advertisers have been enthusiastic with their praise," said Paul Tash, Times chairman, chief executive and editor. "We're ready now to make it available every weekday."

The Times' plans provoked a federal lawsuit from its competitor, the Tampa Tribune, which complained that the name infringes on its trademark for the Tampa Times, an afternoon newspaper that ceased publication in 1982.

The new publication will publish each weekday morning, Monday through Friday, with distribution at hundreds of pickup locations around the Tampa, St. Petersburg and Clearwater region.

Tampa Bay Times will include concise versions of the day's local and national news, with an emphasis on sports, consumer features and entertainment.

Monday through Thursday, the paper will be a 40-page tabloid with circulation of about 40,000 copies.

The Friday edition will be bigger in distribution and pages, with a special entertainment pullout section. Friday's edition will be available all weekend, bringing circulation to more than 60,000.

Free paper now No. 1 in Spain

The Madrid-based, 2.3-million-circulation free daily "20 Minutos" has become Spain's largest general circulation newspaper -- quite a feat for a newspaper that began in the publisher's basement six years ago. In her story, Doreen Carvajal of the International Herald Tribune provides some interesting information on the growth of free dailies in Europe:

Traditional paid circulation papers have jumped into the free market in a big way, and now their papers represent half of free paper circulation in Europe.

Half the papers distributed in Spain are free; In Iceland, free papers have 72 percent of the market.

Free dailies have seen a dramatic rise in Europe, with their circulation hitting 23 million last year, up 33% from the year before.

Analyst likes free dailies, Sing Tao

We don't put much stock in the opinions of financial analysts (pun intended), because if they were any good, they'd be super rich and not sharing their opinions with anyone. Still, we don't often come across an analyst's opinion about free papers, so we're posting this one about Sing Tao News. This analyst says free dailies have "raised the competitive landscape" with other newspapers and that Sing Tao will become a solid profit-producing company.

Hong Kong free daily closer to profit

The Hong Kong free daily am730 expects to record its first monthly profit some time in the second quarter, publisher and property agent Shih Wing-ching told the South China Morning Post yesterday (Jan. 26). One of three free dailies now circulated in the city, am730 hit the streets in July last year and has since accumulated losses of about $20 million. Market leader among the give-away titles, Metro Publishing Hong Kong's Metro made its first monthly profit after 14 months of operation and is believed to have made a profit of $50 million in 2004.

Ads grow at Hong Kong's 3 free dailies

Frederick Yeung of the South China Morning Post says three free dailies in Hong Kong have each seen steady growth in the past year. Metro's share is up 13% to $672 in 2005. In the past month, am730 is up 17%, reaching $36 million, Metro grew 1.9% to $63 million and Headline Daily saw its ad dollars grow 12.8% to $33 million.

Free dailies attracting young readers

Writers Don Nizen and Floyd Weintraub, writing for the trade association National Association of Newspapers, describe the growth of free newspapers. Most of this seems accurate except for one glaring error. In the third paragraph, it says that the first free dailies appeared in Sweden. Unless the authors have a time machine, I think the free dailies in Colorado began before that. The first in that state was the Colorado Daily, the University of Colorado student paper that was kicked off of campus in the early 1970s for its editorials against the Vietnam War. It became a successful community daily for several years, although it has recently been beset with financial problems and ownership turnover. However, Aspen got two free dailies, one in 1979 (which was really a news letter published daily until the owner bought a web press in 1984), and the second in 1988. The Vail Daily began in 1984, too. All of these Colorado publications began before Metro was a glimmer in anyone's eye. And the original typography of Metro looked a lot like those Colorado papers, particularly the Aspen Times Daily.

Denver Post considering a free daily

Media News chairman Dean Singleton, owner of the Denver Post, appears ready to launch a free daily to compliment his paid paper. The Post is part of a joint operating agreement with the Rocky Mountain News, which allows the two papers to combine resources with the blessing of the U.S. Justice Department's antitrust division. Singleton got the division's approval to print a free daily in December 2005. Amy Bryer of the Denver Business Journal writes that the Post's move might be a pre-emptive strike against Phil Anschutz, the Denver railroad and oil billionaire, who has bought or started free dailies in San Francisco and Washington, D.C.

Free papers better for advertisers than TV

Frederick Yeung of the South China Morning Post reports that Peter Kuo, chief executive of Metro in Hong Kong, says that advertisers can reach more people for less money with a free daily over TV. He also reports that Metro is launching a second publication, MetroLife, a monthly that will focus on health and beauty news. Metro in Hong Kong is facing competition from Sing Tao News Corp's Headline Daily and Shih Wing-ching's am730, but still expects to see revenues increase 10 percent this year.

In Hong Kong, free dailies get bigger ad slice

Hong Kong has three free dailies, and they're claiming 8 percent of the city's $1.6 billion newspaper advertising market, according to the South China Morning Post and reporter Frederick Yeung.

Paid Hong Kong papers fight 3 free dailies

Traditional paid circulation dailies in Hong Kong are fighting back as three free dailies are cutting into their circulation, Nozomu Hayaski of the Asahi Shimbun reports. "The three tabloids are now seen as powerful new kids on the block in Hong Kong's newspaper market, which has a total readership of 2 million. There are more than 10 newspapers in the market, from pro- and anti-China papers to general-interest and English-language newspapers--all competing for fickle readers," Hayaski writes.

Six free dailies make progress in S. Korea

The Korean Times, in a wrap up on the news business in S. Korea, reports that the country now has six free tabloids, which are encroaching on the readership base of the traditional print newspapers. "The six free dailies, distributed around subway stations, dominated the commuting scenes with their combined issues estimated to be over 2 million," the Times wrote.

Fired editor to lead Baltimore Examiner

Billionaire Phil Anschutz, who owns free dailies in San Francisco and Washington, D.C., is launching another one this spring in Baltimore, and its new editor will be Frank J. Keegan, a former editor of the Connecticut Post, according to a report by Nick Madigan of the Baltimore Sun. In Connecticut, reporter Eric Friedman of the Fairfield County Weekly confirmed that Keegan was fired by the Post, a daily published in Bridgeport, Conn., in mid-April after working there about three years. The Baltimore Examiner will be the third in Anschutz's chain of free papers and he plans to expand to dozens of other American cities.

Palo Alto Daily News publishers ride into sunset

Dave Price and Jim Pavelich, co-publishers of the Palo Alto Daily News and its five sister daily newspapers, are stepping down from the company they started 10 years ago. Knight Ridder bought the Daily News in Feburary and the two publishers stayed on during the transition. KR also asked them to start free dailies in other U.S. cities. But in November, a group of shareholders demanded the sale of KR, which put all corporate expansion plans on hold for at least a year. As a result, Price and Pavelich decided to leave KR to move forward with their own newspaper projects outside the San Francisco Bay Area.

The Palo Alto Daily News has become a model for free daily newspapers. It was profitable nine months after it started. It created a format that numerous other free dailies have copied. It's penetration of the local advertising market was breathtaking, with issues that had 150-200 display ads per day. The paper's page counts ranged from 60 to 120 per day. And the paper pulled down as many awards as long-established daily competitors, including two consecutive statewide awards for editorial writing. Reports by the Certified Audit of Circulations showed the paper had a return rate of less than 2 percent. Staffers reported that people would walk several blocks to get their copy of "The Daily" each morning.

theSun rises in Malaysia

Emily Tan of "theSun," Malaysia's first and only free national newspaper, reports that her paper will boost its print run and circulation to 200,000 copies in 2006 from 150,000 copies to meet the increasing demand. "The 30% increase reflects theSun's confidence in its free newspaper model, which is taking the world by storm."

Second free daily coming to Prague

Ringier, a major Czechslovakian publisher, is planning to launch its own free daily to compete with Metro, which launched in 2003. According to this publication, Chezh Business Weekly, "The newspaper, whose name is still a secret, will come out five days a week and mainly target young, urban readers from the Prague metropolitan area. It will have an initial print run of 250,000 copies. "

Chicago's Red Streak free daily dies

The AP provides an obituary for the Red Streak, a free daily in Chicago put out by the paid circulation Chicago Sun-Times. The Red Streak lost a three-year-long head-to-head battle with another free daily, the Red Eye, published by the rival Chicago Tribune. AP reporter Dave Carpenter writes "A copycat mission from the start, it was launched in 2002 the same day as long-planned RedEye and with the same focus on local entertainment, sports, fashion and celebrity gossip. But the company with more resources prevailed." Here's a list of free dailies in metro markets. The list apparently doesn't include papers such as the Palo Alto Daily News.

Metro to add 17 cities in Sweden

Metro, the European free daily publisher, plans to begin distributing 17 free dailies in 17 more Swedish cities, according to the newspaper Svenska Dagbladet.

Chicago Red Streak ends Thursday

The Chicago Sun-Times will publish the final edition of its youth-oriented tabloid, Red Streak, this coming Thursday, December 22.

The free paper, launched more than three years ago in response to the Chicago Tribune’s RedEye, which went from paid to free in September. Soon thereafter Sun-Times Publishers John Cruickshank said he was considering closing down Red Streak.

“They’ve conceded they can’t sell newspapers to young people,” Cruickshank said. “From our perspective, we just didn’t need to do it any longer ... The battle was just too expensive to go on.”

He declined to disclose the cost to the Sun-Times of Red Streak’s three-year run. But he said there would be no staff layoffs as a result of folding the publication.

RedEye Publisher Brad Moore was not immediately available for comment.

Metro reports readership is up 22%

Metro reports that it's readership is up 22 percent compared to last year, and that it now reaches 18.5 million people a day. The survey also shows that, unlike paid newspapers, 74 percent of Metro's readers are under 50 years of age. "This survey demonstrates the popularity of the Metro concept especially among young and urban professionals," said CEO Pelle Törnberg (photo at left).