LONDON — London’s afternoon newspaper The Evening Standard is to be given away free from Oct. 12 to raise its distribution, it said Friday, in the first major move in the fiercely competitive market by its new owner, billionaire Alexander Lebedev.
The newspaper, founded as the Standard in 1827, said the number of circulated copies would rise to more than 600,000 per day from 250,000, which would in turn pull in more advertisers.
“I am confident that more than doubling the London Evening Standard’s circulation and maintaining its quality journalism is what London deserves,” Lebedev said in a statement. “The London Evening Standard is the first leading quality newspaper to go free and I am sure others will follow.”
Lebedev owns a majority stake in the newspaper, and former owner Daily Mail & General Trust has retained a 24.9 percent stake.
The announcement marks the latest twist in the industry. Newspapers around the world have struggled in recent years, as readers and advertisers move online, forcing many to look for new business models.
But the Standard has been particularly hurt in the last two years by the opening of two free papers given out around the capital.
Rupert Murdoch’s “freesheet” thelondonpaper has since closed, however, and The London Lite, which receives content from the Evening Standard, is still under review. The Standard said it believed its quality journalism would make the difference.
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