Tuesday, March 31, 2009

Changing format: newspapers switching between broadsheet and tabloid

BLICK is the most widely read paid newspaper in Switzerland, and has just made the somewhat unusual decision to revert to back to broadsheet format. Blick changed to a tabloid format four years ago, reportedly in order to compete with free daily rivals. However, free daily 20 Minutes has since overtaken Blick in terms of readership. 20 Minutes' increased popularity may be a factor in the official reason for the change; that Blick wants to differentiate itself within the market, as well as from its own free daily newspaper Blick am Abend.
Moving in a more common direction, UK, two long-established local newspapers have made the leap from broadsheet to tabloid. The 236-year-old Reading Chronicle, owned by the Berkshire Media Group, and the 162 year old Newsquest owned Darlington and Stockton Times are the two publications making the change.
Chronicle editor Sally Stevens explained that the decision came in response to reader opinion and that "the compact size of the paper is a more modern format which complements our modern town". Times editor Malcolm Warne explained that for his publication the move "means we can offer a more focused local news service - there's an additional cost to that, but we've been able to make that investment for the benefit of the paper".

Source: Press Gazette

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