The international battle in the free newspaper market

The forest of free newspapers is getting denser and denser. In Denmark and London, the markets are in turmoil following announcements of further new free newspapers. First of all in Denmark, there is a huge stir. Following the announcement of an afternoon edition of the most popular free newspaper MetroXpress (see
"Metro launches afternoon newspaper in Copenhagen") the publishers Berlingske and J.P./Politiken are following suit. As reported by the Austrian Standard, Berlingske is now distributing the free newspaper Dato to half a million households in urban centers. The free newspaper "24timer" from Denmark's largest newspaper publisher J.P./Politiken will even be delivered to letterboxes nationwide from the end of the week. The background to these extremely costly distribution measures for the publishers is the Icelandic media group Dagsbrun. This company will enter the Danish market in the fall with the free newspaper Nyhedsavisen, which will also be distributed to all households.
According to experts, the appearance of the new papers will revolutionize the Danish newspaper market in general. The traditional subscription newspapers have cut their advertising rates by up to 50 percent in order to avoid a migration to the new free newspapers.
Meanwhile, media mogul Rupert Murdoch is launching the free newspaper The London Paper in London in mid-September. London's fifth free paper will have an initial circulation of 400,000 and is aimed at a young readership of 17 to 35-year-olds. With this new publication, Murdoch has set his sights on the publishing house Associated Newspaper, which publishes the Evening Standard and Metro, among others. As in almost all urban centers in Europe, free newspapers are experiencing an unbroken boom in London. The largest free newspaper CityAM is already said to be more widely distributed than the Financial Times.