Murdoch Launches New Free Daily As 'Combat' Breaks Out

By: Global media tycoon Rupert Murdoch yesterday 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 to 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 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 tube system, which is used by more than three 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 when readership for paid-circulation newspapers has been declining steadily nationwide.

James Simpson, a Transport for London spokesperson, 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. That decision is due to be announced at the end of the year.

In the meantime, two small armies of distributors were busy thrusting the rival papers into the arms of harried commuters in front of London's tube stations.

Greenslade called the tactic "enormously expensive" but said whoever could establish market dominance before bidding closed would be in an extremely strong position to capture the market.

But it remains to be seen how many free papers the market can stand. Yesterday's launch brings the total number of free papers vying for Londoner's attention to four, including the business newspaper City A.M., launched a year ago.

Thelondonpaper also is competing against the Evening Standard, a paid-circulation paper published by Associated Newspapers.

Sales of the Evening Standard, London's lone paid circulation afternoon paper, have fallen 19 per cent to 300,000 since last year, according to the Audit Bureau of Circulation.

Greenslade said the battle for readers could end up costing both Associated Newspapers and News Corp. dearly.

"It could very well end up being a pyrrhic victory," he said. "But for everyone else -- the advertisers being wooed, the readers being deluged with copy -- this is great."