Metro Launches Daily in Crowded NYC Market

By: Jennifer Saba Today New Yorkers on their daily commute may notice an extra newspaper hawker lurking around their subway entrance, as Metro International launches a free daily paper called (what else?) Metro. "We are all over the world," said Henry E. Scott, publisher, noting that the London-based company has papers throughout Europe, South America and Asia, as well as Boston and Philadelphia. "New York is the next obvious place to come."

If New York is ready for another publication remains to be seen. Along with countless other print choices -- including the Tribune Co.'s free daily amNewYork -- the folks at Metro have their work cut out for them. But Scott insists his paper will be different. "We're more demographically targeted than your typical newspaper," he said adding that this target is readers 18-34. "We're the NIE [Newspaper in Education] for 20-year-olds. We removed all the obstacles to reading a newspaper."

About 300,000 copies of the 28-page tab (with a 50-50 ad-to-edit ratio) will be distributed today, he said. Scott said that H&M, DKNY and Sony are just some of the paid advertisers that have signed on and he added that they have advertising in the pipeline through June. As for editorial, "Britney Spears is more likely to land on our cover than at The New York Times," Scott said. "We're mindful of our audience." Readers can expect quick news items (they have a content deal with The Associated Press) and entertainment news (a partnership with Time Out New York magazine). The editorial staff consists of 18.

As for the competition -- newspapers in general and amNewYork in particular -- Scott seems unconcerned. "I don't see amNewYork as a competitor," he said. "They have different content and different advertising. It's like the New York Times and the Staten Island Advance."

AmNewYork, which launched in fall 2003, is a free tab with short news items also aimed at commuters. "New York City is the most competitive market in the nation. When we launched we expected competition," said Floyd Weintraub, senior vice president of amNewYork, which has a circ of about 209,000. Weintraub used to work at Metro International with amNewYork publisher Russel Pergament.