Free copies make up more than third of Standard's August circulation

by Daniel Farey-Jones Brand Republic 07-Sep-07, 13:05

LONDON - The Evening Standard gave away nearly 100,000 bulk copies in August, ahead of the anniversary of the launch of the afternoon freesheets, according to the newspaper ABC figures for August.

The August figures look satisfactory for Associated Newspapers, with its London Lite freesheet up 1.43% on July to 406,298 copies, gaining ground on News International's thelondonpaper, which decreased 0.93% on July to 495,899.

The Standard's headline circulation has also improved steadily since April, when it was 266,214.It rose 0.86% on July to 277,555.

Its six-month average circulation is 272,522, which is 14.17% down year on year. However, its use of giveaway bulk copies has increased steadily over the past few months.

In August it gave away 95,111 copies, slightly more than a third of its circulation. In July the figure was 81,261 copies, and in June it was 66,179. A year ago it had a circulation of 317,511, of which 38,078 were bulk copies.

An Evening Standard spokeswoman said: "The paper has been running a sampling campaign with new commercial partners during August."

Lastly, City AM, which during August lowered its circulation to reflect the quieter period in the City, reported a month-on-month decline inline with its annual summer break policy.

The title was down 12.47% with 81,687 copies, while its six-month average figure remained buoyant, rising 19.27% year on year to 96,414 copies.