By: E&P Staff RedEye, the quick-read free daily tabloid published by the Chicago Tribune, on Monday bumped up its distribution by 50,000 copies to 200,000.
With the 33% increase, the paper said, it now has the largest weekday distribution in the city of Chicago.
Most of the additional copies will be distributed inside the city limits, but RedEye also said it will now be available at every Metra commuter train stop in the suburbs as well as Chicago.
"We have demand in the market with readers and advertisers," says Brad Moore, general manager of RedEye. "Many of our boxes are empty by mid-morning. We know there is demand out there and we are exploring new areas in the city we have not been as strong in."
Before the increase in distribution, RedEye maintained a 4% return rate. With more copies, the paper expects that rate to rise before settling back down to the 4% to 5% range.
The young-skewing tabloid launched Oct. 30, 2002 as a paid paper.
About half of the additional 50,000 copies are going to boxes out in the suburbs. Moore doesn't expect the move to impact the average age of a RedEye reader, which is 35.
Moore also maintains there if very little crossover readership between RedEye and the flagship paper the Chicago Tribune. "Very little of the Chicago Tribune's circulation is single copy," Moore explains. "There is very little cannibalization there. It's a different audience."
RedEye competes more with the Chicago Sun-Times because of the similar tabloid formats and common demo target of young urban professionals.
In the last year, RedEye has grown aggressively, increasing its weekday distribution by 50%, and adding a home delivery-only free Saturday edition.
RedEye said its weekly readership is 700,000 and it has been profitable since 2005.
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