Metro (Sweden)

Metro is a free daily newspaper in Sweden. It is printed in four editions: Stockholm, Gothenburg, Skåne and National, which is distributed in 67 towns and cities throughout the country. The paper is the first European free paper.[1]

History and profile

Metro Stockholm was the first version. The paper was launched on 13 February 1995 and distributed in the Stockholm Metro. Its owner and founding company is Modern Times Group (MTG), a subsidiary of the Swedish conglomerate Kinnevik.[2] The paper is published in tabloid format by Metro International.[3][4]

For a long time, Metro was the sole free newspaper available in the different metropolitan areas. In 2002, the Bonnier group launched Stockholm City in the Stockholm region. City expanded into Gothenburg and Malmö in September 2006 and was followed a few weeks later by the Schibsted-backed Punkt SE in all three cities. City Göteborg was closed down in late 2007. In May 2008 Metro had reached an agreement with Schibsted that meant that Punkt SE would be closed down and Schibsted would buy a 35 percent share of Metro Sweden.[5]

In the period of 2001-2002 Metro had a circulation of 384,000 copies.[3]

Comics

Both the current featured comic strip Elvis, by Tony Cronstam,[6] and the earlier Rocky, by Martin Kellerman, were first published in Metro Stockholm.

References

  1. ↑ "Uutislehti 100 (Finland) closes next month". Newspaper Innovation. 12 August 2008. Retrieved 20 November 2014.
  2. ↑ Lynne Wilcox (2005). "Metro, info, haro! Fierce reactions to regime competition in the French newspaper industry". Media, Culture & Society 27 (3). Retrieved 8 April 2015.
  3. ↑ 3.0 3.1 Piet Bakker (2002). "Free daily newspapers ‐ business models and strategies". International Journal on Media Management 4 (3): 180–187. doi:10.1080/14241270209389998. Retrieved 24 November 2014.
  4. ↑ Stig Hadenius; Lennart Weibull (1999). "The Swedish Newspaper System in the Late 1990s. Tradition and Transition". Nordicom Review 1 (1). Retrieved 31 December 2014.
  5. ↑ "Schibsted acquires 35% of Metro Sweden and closes down Punkt SE" (Press release). Schibsted. 19 May 2008.
  6. ↑ Metro - Serier

External links