Free Dailies Bring Younger Readers Back to Newspapers
By Don Nizen and Floyd Weintraub

The launch of New York City’s first free daily, amNewYork, on October 10, 2003, permanently changed the newspaper landscape in the “Big Apple” and the United States. In less then 18 months, amNewYork’s weekday circulation has grown from 150,000 to 325,000. Today, it is the most-read newspaper of 18- to 35-year-olds in New York City and has the largest circulation of any paid or unpaid daily newspaper in Manhattan. Its high-energy, real-news oriented editorial approach complimented by informative feature sections and daily listing of things to do around town have secured the loyalty of what had become an illusive readership to traditional newspapers: young professionals.

Distributed primarily by a friendly corps of old-time newspaper hawkers during the morning commute, demand is so great that after 9:00 a.m., amNewYork is often hard to find. With a self-imposed limit of 48 pages, the newspaper is selling out of advertising space on a regular basis. amNewYork has captured the interest of young professional readers, the support of advertisers, and the interest of newspaper people around the world.

The history of free commuter dailies has now become the stuff of legends in the newspaper industry. First appearing in Sweden in the mid-1990s and then throughout Europe, today free daily newspapers can be found all around the world. In the United States, there are free dailies in Boston, Chicago, San Francisco, Philadelphia, Dallas, and two in New York City as well as Washington D.C., with many more on the drawing board.

In Canada, there are two in Toronto, one in Montreal, and this year there are expected to be two new free dailies in Vancouver as well as new ones in Calgary, Edmonton, Ottawa and yet another in Toronto. Europe is overflowing with these “free sheets,” with more then 50 various editions in every language in virtually every country.

Originally, these free newspapers were solely the domain of small innovative media companies like Modern Times Group (MTG) of Sweden from which Metro International was created, as well as Schibsted from Norway which publishes 20 Minutes. But today in North America, the titans of the newspaper industry like the Washington Post, Belo, Tribune, Torstar, CanWest, and Quebecor have entered the fray with not only their money but their prestige.

Innovative entrepreneurs like Philip Anschultz, with his recently launched Examiners in San Francisco and Washington, are investing in this growing newspaper marketplace. And even the New York Times, once dismissive of this new print media, now wants into the game and through the Boston Globe is trying to buy a piece of Boston Metro.

So, what has fueled the explosion of interest in free dailies in North America and why has amNewYork jumped ahead of the pack in what many consider the toughest newspaper market in the United States?

It has been well documented by INMA and others that the U.S. newspaper reader is aging. As traditional newspapers fought over existing readership, younger potential readers found other media sources to get their news, information and entertainment. Broadsheet and 200-page daily tabloid newspapers no longer suited emerging fast-pace life-styles of young professionals especially in urban and metropolitan marketplaces. Advertisers in search of younger trend-setting consumers found new and emerging media showcases — print and otherwise — to reach these prime customers.

Free dailies make sense to readers, advertisers, and publishers. They can be read in 20 minutes at a convenient time on a subway, train, or bus during the morning commute. Free dailies are economical to develop, usually 40 to 45 employees providing entry-level positions to journalists and commissioned sales representatives. With the outsourcing of printing and circulation there is relatively little capital expense and overhead is low. With low investment and costs the advertising rates are significantly cheaper than the paid dailies and by limiting page counts advertisements have greater impact than in 100-page daily newspapers.

With the launch of the Metro Philadelphia in January 1999, the first free daily in the United States, and the failure of a Quixotic legal action by Gannett, the New York Times and the Philadelphia News Group to void Metro International’s contract with the Southeastern Pennsylvania Transit Authority (SEPTA) to distribute the newspaper to riders within the local transit system, it became clear that the free daily had finally arrived in the United States.

Young urban professional readers liked the newspaper. Its short, tightly edited articles were substantive and fact-filled giving credence to the proposition among young people that “free is good.”

As the newspaper industry watched developments in Philadelphia and elsewhere, a dismissive attitude toward the “free sheet” turned into defensiveness.

When Metro International launched its Toronto edition in 2000, both the Toronto Star (a year later it would form a partnership with Metro International) and the Toronto Sun published “spoiler” newspapers respectively called Today and FYI. The Express, the Washington Post’s free daily, was also launched to prevent others from entering the market. Neither of the Toronto “spoiler” newspapers now exists and in February 2005, a second free daily was launched in the Washington, D.C. area.

amNewYork’s experienced management team had a different vision — a positive vision — for its free daily. With a significant financial investment by the Tribune Company, this vision came to publishing life. In a marketplace saturated with media showcases, amNew York has differentiated and branded itself as the quintessential New York commuter newspaper with a focus on local editorial content and targeted distribution.

Unlike the Metro model which focuses on shared editorial among its publications, amNewYork emphasises New York news, features, and information. The commitment to editorial excellence is uncompromising. Lead by a Pulitzer Prize-winning editor-inchief, the newspaper has gained a reputation for breaking news and offering readers information in quick easy-to-read format.

The distribution organisation of amNewYork combines innovative strategies to newspaper circulation with traditional approaches. At the core of the operation are 200 hawkers — carefully trained, motivated and monitored — who distribute amNewYork at high-volume commuter locations each morning.

With their distinct red vests and spirited greeting, “Good morning, amNewYork,” these hawkers reflect the vitality of New York City. They are a welcome sight to commuters, and they themselves have become a topic of news coverage.

Complimenting the hand distribution effort is a network of more then 1,000 newspaper boxes. The operation is efficient and effective covering all five New York City boroughs: Manhattan, Brooklyn, Queens, The Bronx and Staten Island, as well as Westchester and Long Island suburbs, and New Jersey’s Bergen, Essex, Hudson and Passaic counties. Included in this extensive circulation effort are exclusive distribution agreements with private newsstands servicing commuters on the Long Island Railroad, at Westchester train stations and on the Staten Island Ferry. Performance is carefully monitored and measured on a daily basis.

amNewYork’s success has not gone unnoticed. All the major New York newspapers now have their own army of hawkers. To keep single-copy sales and circulation numbers up, the casual newspaper reader can now buy the New York Times, Wall Street Journal and Daily News for half price most late afternoons outside of Penn and Grand Central Stations as well as other places around the city.

In May 2004, Metro International launched its own free daily with a circulation estimated at about 300,000. It is heavily distributed in the Bronx, Queens, Brooklyn and Manhattan by hawkers and in traditional newspaper boxes.

In New York City, it is evident that one size, or one newspaper source, no longer fits all. In the busy 24/7 lives of urban professionals, news, information and entertainment must meet readers’ lifestyles as well as needs. Free dailies are bringing these young readers, and therefore advertisers, back to newspapers.