London Papers Slash Costs With Virus Scaring Off Readers, Ads

(Bloomberg) --

The cries of London’s iconic newspaper vendors are being silenced because the coronavirus is forcing millions of commuters to stay home and advertisers are snapping shut their wallets.

The Evening Standard newspaper, which distributes about 800,000 free copies a day in the capital, said Friday it will pivot to home delivery to reach workers who would normally pick up the publication in city center, according to an internal memo seen by Bloomberg News.

“We will be launching a unique new home delivery service this Monday,” said the company, which will look to produce 500,000 copies a day. “In the context of currently lower advertising volumes, it makes good economic sense, too.”

The paper is edited by former U.K. Finance Minister George Osborne and is owned by Russian mogul Evgeny Lebedev. The decision was reported earlier by the Financial Times.

City A.M., another free London paper targeted at the financial industry, said Thursday it will pause printing altogether to slash costs. Chief Executive Officer Jens Torpe said he’s instituting 50% salary cuts for staff for April and told employees in a memo that “most advertisers are canceling their bookings.”

“Those two titles are both totally advertising-dependent, there’s no circulation revenue,” independent media consultant and analyst Alex DeGroote said by phone. “Advertising could fall by 50% over the next three months for U.K. newspapers. It may well be the worst advertising market of all time.”

He said newsprint costs could rise because of the weaker British pound and speculated the crisis could lead to permanent changes for the industry.

“This crash definitely hastens digitalization,” he said. “It’s highly symbolic of the end of print newspapers. If anything is going to tip it over the edge, it’s this.”

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