Mirror looks to target female readers with secret national newspaper project
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Version 0 of 1. The Mirror’s secret cut-price national newspaper project is understood to be a title that specifically targets female readers. Trinity Mirror, the publisher of the Daily Mirror, Sunday Mirror and Sunday People, has had a team exploring the viability of a new national newspaper since last year. The title would operate on a similar model to Evgeny Lebedev’s highly-successful i, which launched in 2010 and sells 268,000 copies a day at a cut price of 40p, operating off a low cost base by feeding off the Independent. The Mirror is understood to be exploring the potential of a female-focused cut price title, which it is looking to test in parts of northern England. The publisher has strong historical credentials in the women’s market with the award-winning M magazine, launched and edited by Tina Weaver, which initially went head-to-head with women’s magazines going out mid-week with the paper. It was transferred to Saturdays and eventually closed by Sly Bailey, the former Trinity Mirror chief executive, in 2003 as a cost cutting measure. The new title, which is being developed by a small team led by Sunday Mirror editor Alison Phillips, would be a standalone national newspaper product. There is significant potential in the female-focused tabloid market with products including the Daily Mail’s hugely-successful Femail, which in the past has been rumoured to been considered for a standalone launch, and the Sun’s Fabulous. Trinity Mirror is also understood to have had a look at buying i, which has been quietly touted around the market. There have been rumours that News UK, publisher of the Times and Sun, has also taken a look at i. |