With the Sun on Sunday launching this weekend, February 26 Bob Wootton , ISBA Media Director gives an advertiser's welcome.
Some are likely bemoaning the continued absence of new and more diverse ownership of the UK’s national press, but the launch of the Sun on Sunday this weekend is on balance a very welcome development.
The closure of the News of the World last July put its 2.6m readers at risk. Despite rivals’ incredibly intense tactical promotions, only about a million of those were retained to the market. The rest were lost to the cost of News International and advertisers alike.
The launch of Sun on Sunday will likely not see the return of all those million and a half-odd lost readers. It is not likely to be a return under a different banner of the previous newspaper, some of whose scoops appear to have been sourced by unacceptable means. Nor, having been forced to reconsider their Sunday newspaper buying habits – and it really is a habit for many – will some readers ever return.
But that said, there is not a queue of businesses or wealthy individuals lining up to publish or acquire a national newspaper title right now, and few incumbents are enjoying much commercial success in the current economic climate and in the face of an onslaught of digital channels. Meanwhile, Mr Murdoch, a newspaperman through and through, is investing and is probably the most likely to make a go of it.