Free London papers battle sounds familiar

Murdoch's free London paper to launch with 400,000 copies

News International is to print 400,000 copies of its new freesheet, thelondonpaper, when it is launched a week today in direct competition with Associated Newspaper's new free paper, London Lite.

The sizeable print run is expected to be matched by copies of London Lite, which launches on Wednesday this week. It comes after sales of the London Evening Standard, Associated's paid-for title, have fallen nearly 20% in the year to July, to 300,993.
Les Hinton, News International chairman, told the Guardian thelondonpaper was aimed at younger readers living within the M25, who were not being served by the Evening Standard or its free sister paper. Its circulation was, he said, a "Home Counties sale".

Source: Union Global