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Brighton Argus freesheet will go weekly

31 October 2007

Nearly two years after its launch, Brighton freesheet The Argus Lite is to switching from a daily to weekly publication on Friday because it failed to attract enough advertising, Press Gazette can reveal.

Two sub editors have been made redundant as a result of the move.

Newsquest (Sussex) managing director Martyn Willis insisted the company is not considering closing the free title altogether.

He told Press Gazette: “It is simple economics. We managed to get a readership that spread out over a five-day period but advertisers unfortunately couldn’t or wouldn’t at this stage support it over five days.

“We are condensing it into a weekly concentrating on its core strengths that we know that the commuters want to read about while still reaching that same commuter traffic once a week.

“To be frank coming out on a Friday helps us to maximise our recruitment platform and also helps us to handle the strong entertainments section we have been carrying and know the readers want.”

Willis denied that Associated Newspapers’ rival freesheet Metro, which launched in Brighton last September, contributed to the decision to reduce distribution.

Pagination of the weekly Argus Lite will be increased by 50 per cent to 36 from 24.

The Bath Chronicle switched from a daily to a weekly publication in August.

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