Inside story: Defenders of the free world

With London now the home of no fewer than four freesheets, Piet Bakker takes a tour of the giveaway titles that have done most to change the global newspaper market

The first free commuter daily was launched in 1995 in Stockholm. By 2000 there were more than 40 free dailies in 20 countries with a total circulation of 8 million. Today, the number of countries with such dailies has doubled, the number of titles has more than tripled and circulation is four times as high (31 million). While the common denominator is that they are free, the similarities end there. There are morning and afternoon papers, tabloids, micros and A4 formats, weekday and weekend formats, 12-pagers and 100-pagers, local and national titles, general and targeted papers. There are free dailies with a circulation of 5,000 and others with a circulation of more than a million. Between them, they have changed the face of the global newspaper market.

thelondonpaper

The latest freebie has won the beauty contest, at least; commentators liked the logo, the typeface and the feel of the paper. The real contest, however, has yet to begin. Comments so far have been about its style and appearance, but readers will judge the content and advertisers will count the readers. The almost desperate attempt to hook in the 18 to 34 ABC1-ers results in an over-the-top approach. Besides, how many Pete Doherty cover stories can a reader take?

London Lite

London was the scene of a race and a beauty contest. London Lite, a Standard Lite make-over, won the race. Actually, the Lite looks more like its morning sister paper Metro. The focus on celebrities, entertainment, human interest, scandals and sport turns all UK freebies into papers not found anywhere else on this earth. With a print run of 400,000 the Lite aims (like every free daily) at the 18 to 34 ABC1 urbanite. In reality, more than half of free-paper readers aren't in the target group.

20 Minutes

Developed by Norwegian publisher Schibsted, 20 Minutes is present in France, Spain and Switzerland. All editions employ more journalists than most of their competitors and therefore contain more of their own reporting. In Spain and Switzerland it is the best-read paper overall, while in France it is the best-read free paper. In 1999 Schibsted introduced the concept in Cologne but stepped out in 2001 after a war with Alex Springer (owner of Bild) and a local publisher.

Metro

Associated Newspapers introduced a Metro of its own in 1999, mainly to prevent the Swedes from coming to London. The spoiler turned into a cash cow. After London, nine other British city editions were introduced, and in 2005 it also launched in Dublin. With 1.1 million copies Metro UK is the free daily with the largest circulation in one country. The paper has "UK tabloid" written all over it - entertainment, personalities and sports are emphasised in the "consumer-orientated" paper.

City AM

Launched last year, City AM is the first business-targeted free daily. If imitation is a compliment, City AM got some compliments. In Germany Business News was introduced in August, and Cash Daily was launched in Switzerland last Friday. For City AM, £10m was raised to start the operation, and the staff of 50 journalists is remarkable for a free paper with a circulation below 100,000 and only a modest amount of advertising. The paper is handed out in central London.

Metro International

The Swedish originator of the free newspaper concept is now in 21 countries on three continents, and its success has led to many Metro lookalikes all over the world. With a daily circulation of 18.5 million (35 million weekly), Metro is the world's biggest international paper. Most countries have several local editions (69 in total) so the paper can offer local, national and international advertising. Metro is a low-cost paper in journalistic terms: it claims that less than 10 per cent of its budget is spent on the editorial department and that no more than 400 journalists work for all the editions together. That does not keep 18 million people from reading Metro every day.

RedEye Chicago

This is not a newspaper but a daily magazine. It has the look and feel of a youth-orientated entertainment guide. Information on shops, movies, clubs, places to eat, to see and be seen is in RedEye; for hard news read the Chicago Tribune, the mother company and leading newspaper in Chicago. Until a year ago RedEye competed with Red Streak (from competing paper Chicago Sun-Times) but Red Streak surrendered. Now RedEye is the only city guide around - with its own parties and special exclusive offers for under-35s.

24timer

In Arhus, Denmark's second city, paperboys hand out 24timer, Metro, Dato, Urban and JPArhus+. In Copenhagen there are four morning titles and an afternoon freebie. Another daily, Nyhedsavisen, will launch in October. Newcomer 24timer counts 56 pages on Friday - almost half filled with ads. But advertising costs are rumoured to have dropped by 50 per cent. Reporting has also been suffering: the paper has a deadline of 8pm and when FC Copenhagen miraculously reached the Champions League, 24timer had to give it a miss.

The Examiner titles

Free Examiner dailies are available only in cities such as New York, Boston, Philadelphia, Washington and Chicago and are distributed door-to-door in wealthy neighbourhoods as public transport is not a particularly American thing. Billionaire Philip Anschutz bought the San Francisco Examiner in 2004, added the Washington Examiner in 2005 and started a Baltimore edition in 2006. Examiners are not afraid to print stories longer than 200 words and contain editorials that mirror the views of their conservative owner.

Frettabladid

Getting a free 100-page free daily delivered to your door seven days a week is a reality in the Icelandic capital, Reykjavik. Frettabladid started in 2001 and is now the most-read paper with a circulation of more than 100,000. The second daily is the free Bladid. Both titles are responsible for more than 70 per cent of Icelandic circulation - paid circulation has dropped by more than 25 per cent since 2000. The main casualty is the tabloid DV, but the only other paper, Morgunbladid, hardly lost readers. Publisher Dagsbrun announced a door-to-door Frettabladid lookalike in Denmark for October.

Qué!

Recoletos, publisher of sports paper Marca and business paper Expansión, launched Qué!, a third national free daily in Spain with a circulation of 900,000, in 2005. Both 20 Minutos and Metro already had circulations of just under a million. Qué! was targeted at a younger audience and had a website where readers' blogs were fully integrated. In March a fourth national free daily was introduced, ADN, by a group of local publishers. More than 50 per cent of the total Spanish market consists of free newspapers, and the circulation of paid papers has been stable since 2000.

Direct Soir

Paris has two free morning papers: Métro and 20 Minutes. Launching an afternoon paper seems logical, but is not that easy: logistics are more difficult and fresh news is scarcer. Half of the dozen free afternoon papers in Europe have died. Groupe Bolloré (commercial TV, cinema, advertising) nevertheless launched evening paper Direct Soir (circulation 500,000) in June with an annual budget of €20m (£13m) and expects a loss of €15m in the first year. Profits are expected in seven to eight years. In October, Bolloré and Le Monde will launch a third Paris morning paper.