Metro (Associated Metro Limited)

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Metro
Cover on October 25, 2004.
Type	Daily free newspaper
Format	Tabloid
Owner	Associated Newspapers
Editor	Kenny Campbell
Founded	1999
Political allegiance	No allegiance
Headquarters	Kensington, London
Website: http://www.metro.co.uk http://metro.mobi

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Metro is the trading name of a free daily newspaper, published by Associated Newspapers (part of Daily Mail and General Trust) in the United Kingdom and the Republic of Ireland. It is available from Monday to Friday each week on many public transport services across the United Kingdom and the Republic of Ireland.

The paper was launched in London in 1999, and can now be found in 14 UK urban centres. Localised editions are distributed in Birmingham, Brighton, Cardiff, Edinburgh, Glasgow, Leeds, Manchester, Liverpool, Newcastle, Sussex, Sheffield, The East Midlands, Bristol and Bath. A Dublin version, launched in conjunction with Metro International and The Irish Times, began publications on 10 October 2005. It is part of the same media group as the Daily Mail, The Mail on Sunday and the Evening Standard, although in some areas, the paper operates as a franchise with a local newspaper publisher, rather than as a wholly owned concern. Unlike London newspapers thelondonpaper and the London Lite which are right-wing the Metro newspaper is centre-wing.

In its first five years, it rocketed to over 1 million daily readers, making it the UK's fourth largest daily newspaper, after The Sun, the Daily Mail and the Daily Mirror, although it is closing in on the Daily Mirror in terms of distribution. It now prints approximately 1m copies daily, and officially has some 1.7m readers, as of September 2005. This high readership is due in part to the papers being left on seats on buses or London Underground trains, and then being picked up by the next person to use that seat. In January 2008, its total certified distribution for that month was 1,363,976. Due to its urban and mainly youthful audience, advertising receipts have been very healthy at a time when its older stablemate, the Evening Standard, had not been performing so well. 62% of readers are ABC1 (upper/middle class social grade), 78% are aged 15–44 and 64% are in work.

The Metro concept comes from Sweden. Metro International, a different company, launched in the UK in 1999 and in Newcastle upon Tyne was distributed side by side with the Associated Newspapers' version on the Tyne and Wear Metro system. After battling alongside the Associated Newspapers' version with the same name, it changed its name to Morning News however, it was short-lived and Morning News was discontinued shortly afterwards (see Metro International). They have had plans to launch a rivalling free evening newspaper in London.[1]. As noted above, Metro International does co-operate with Associated Metro on the Dublin version of the newspaper, although it is Associated Metro which provides the content, and the Dublin Metro uses the Associated Metro logo, not the Metro International one. [2]. Similarly, Rupert Murdoch is said to have regretted missing the opportunity of launching his own London paper. However, News International, a UK subsidiary of Murdoch's News Corporation, launched a London-based newspaper in 2006 called thelondonpaper.

The newspaper was designed to be read in 20 minutes. The features section contains a mix of articles on travel, homes, style, health and so on, as well as extensive arts coverage and entertainment listings. The popular puzzles page contains the cartoon stripa Nemi (by Lise Myhre), 118 118 (informative comic strip) and This Life (by Rick Brookes), astrology readings by Wendy Bristow, and Sudoku. Previously, it featured a crossword (in place of the sudoku puzzle), David J. Bodycombe's Think Tank brainteasers and a Judge Dredd strip.

In 2008 the newspaper launched a new mobile website: Metro.mobi. This .mobi site brings the visitors all the big news stories as they break 24 hours a day, as well as the latest sport, live football scores, showbiz gossip and weird stories from around the world.

[edit] External links

• Metro Café Online version of Associated Newspapers' Metro newspaper
• Metro.mobi Mobile version of Associated Newspapers' Metro newspaper
• Hot off the Press, Steve Auckland, Metro MD discusses setting up the newspaper