London Lite bounces back

Associated Newsapapers' London Lite afternoon freesheet returned its distribution to more than 400,000 in July after a technical glitch the previous month.
In June, London Lite blamed a 12,000 fall in its recorded distribution on a technical error arising from how it filled in its forms.

Last month, London Lite distributed an average of 400,571, a 3.12% rise on June, according to figures compiled by the Audit Bureau of Circulations.

London Lite has pegged its distribution at the 400,000 mark, while News International rival the London Paper has expanded to the 500,000 level, a decision Associated has criticised as wasteful.

The London Paper returned its distribution to more than 500,000 copies, giving away 500,563 copies a day in July.

Meanwhile, the London Evening Standard - which has suffered since the afternoon freesheets were unleashed on the capital in August last year - saw its circulation slip 0.38% on last month to sell an average of 275,186 copies in July, a month affected by school holidays. Of these, 193,913 were at full rate.

Last month, the paper's year-on year-decline was 8.57%. In June the Standard suffered a 10.9% year-on-year decline, reflecting the effect of the freesheet launches.

However, this compares favourably with the 17% year-on-year fall the paper recorded across the six months between January and June.

City AM, London's free business paper, reduced its distribution to 93,321 copies a day due to the summer slowdown, ending its three-month run of handing out more than 100,000 copies.

The newspaper will shut down on August 17 and reopen on August 28. City AM plans to return to 100,000 copies in September.

Metro, Associated Newspapers' morning freesheet, distributed 1,115,276 copies each day across the country in July, with its largest print run in London at 550,418 copies per day.

Stephen Brook, press correspondent
Friday August 10, 2007