With So Many Tons Of Free Newspapers Tossed After The Quick Read Are Advertisers Getting True Value?

Philip M. Stone December 10, 2007

Transit authorities in many big cities have long complained about the trash left behind from free newspapers being tossed after the quick read, but the figure by London transit authorities that they are clearing some 9 1/2 tons of free newspapers out of the Underground (subway) each day on just three of its 12 routes gives a startling view to how serious the problem is, and it surely must have advertisers wondering the reader value of their messages.

London has three free newspapers. The morning Metro (circulation 745,942) is available only in bins located in Underground stations, and there are two free PM newspapers, thelondonpaper (circulation:  495,950) and London Lite (circulation: 400,513). So that means 1.64 million free newspapers hit the London streets Monday-Friday.  With 9 ½ tons of free newspapers discarded on the most popular routes, the thought is the total Underground tonnage each day of waste free papers could be close to 30 tons.

And that’s not all. London is split into several councils responsible for separate geographic parts of the city and the largest, Westminster, has estimated that every day there are about four tons of waste free newspapers literally hitting its streets. In some parts of the main downtown shopping areas the council says the tossed newspapers account for 25% of all waste collected, and because it is mixed with street litter it cannot be recycled. So add that four tons plus tonnage in other London council areas to what is left on the Underground and the weight of the problem becomes obvious.

The math that advertisers might want to do is to figure out the average weight of the free newspapers, multiply by 1.6 million to get total tonnage printed daily and then they can see how much of that tonnage is discarded immediately after the fast read! It doesn’t take a math genius, however, to figure out that not many free newspapers make their way into the office in the morning or home in the evening. So is there true value to advertisers for such scant reading?

There doesn’t seem to be much the transit authorities can really do except to intensify their public campaign to keep Underground trains clean – a losing battle --  but the various London councils do have a weapon they can use – they can withdraw permits for distributing newspapers in the streets unless the newspaper publishers do something to help with the clean-up.

In Westminster the council at its own expense installed an additional 131 trash bins throughout its streets following the free newspaper launches a year ago with  some 3.2 million newspapers recycled through those additional bins in the first year, but it simply was not enough. So the council asked News International, publisher of thelondonpaper, and Associated Newspapers, publisher of London Lite, to pay for additional bins which they basically refused to do until threatened with losing their distribution permits. Now they are participating in a pilot-scheme, installing 32 recycling bins with full branding in the most blighted areas. The companies collect the bin refuse which they say they will recycle.

It seems the free newspapers have taken over the reading on the Underground. A reporter for The Independent said that in his train carriage one morning he counted 22 free newspapers being read and he was the only passenger reading a paid-for newspaper. At nighttime he said it was basically the same –the free newspapers far outpacing the paid-fors.

So does that mean the paid-for newspapers now stay at home or in the office – that should please advertisers since the paper can be referred to repeatedly – but does it really make any difference to an advertiser whether a newspaper is being kept around a while or whether it is just tossed away after reading.

Distribution of the free newspapers has increased this year. Metro is up one third, thelondonpaper is up 17% while London Lite is up just 1.4%, and they are chipping away at the circulation of their paid-for competitors. Perhaps the most serious case is that of the Evening Standard in London. The November Audit numbers show the Standard’s circulation fell by some 600 copies in November to 291,991 from October, but what really needs to be stripped out of those numbers is that bulk sales are now up to 95,090 meaning the Standard’s full paid copies are below that psychological 200,000 mark at 196,901.

As part of its marketing when the two free newspapers launched a year back the Standard raised its price from 40 pence to 50 pence. Seems that didn’t work very well in holding onto loyal customers, so the newspaper in the last month has introduced a new electronic pay card which offers discounts on the newspaper depending how much money is applied to the card upfront, and it was thought that would boost sales, but in the short-term, at least,  it appears not.

So, the question for advertisers is where do they think they get the biggest bang for their buck? Advertising in either of the two free evening newspapers that between them have some 900,000 circulation daily, but which from the trash evidence are tossed away in huge numbers, or pay for 196,901 fully-paid copies of the Standard, plus get another 90,000 made up mostly of hotel tourists and the like.

It seems the reading public takes the view that you get what you pay for and the free newspapers for the most part seem to be considered trash.  And yet there were readership statistics from the National Readership survey released the day before the audit numbers that suggested each of the PM free newspapers has some 850,000 readers daily. That compares to 712,000 daily readers of the Standard  indicating each copy of the Standard  averages more than three people reading it while for the free newspaper it is more like two people reading each circulated copy.

Now if only they had a survey for newspaper advertising attention span.

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