MEDIA MARKET DATA - World Association of Newspapers

news follows a period of consultation with other interested parties by the OFT, which said ithad wrung some extra commitments out of Associated.http://www.iii.co.uk/news/?type=afxnews&articleid=5568493&subject=companies&action=article; March 2, 2006* * * * *Media groups were last night (March 2) considering launching a free evening newspaper forLondoners after the Office of Fair Trading (OFT) ended its dispute with the owners of theDaily Mail over distribution on the Tube. Last year, Daily Mail & General Trust's Associatednational newspaper division had offered to waive its rights to exclusive distribution of freepapers at London Underground stations, in order to close a regulatory investigation into thedistribution deal. Yesterday, the OFT accep-ted the arrangement, paving the way for a freerival to the London-based Evening Standard, which is also owned by Associated.http://news.independent.co.uk/business/news/article348989.ece; March 3, 2006* * * * *Associated Newspapers has emerged as the frontrunner in the battle for the distribution rightsfor London's proposed new free evening newspaper, according to bookmakers. Paddy Powerhas given the Metro and Evening Standard publisher odds of 8/11 ahead of its rivals.Transport for London kickstarted the tender earlier this week by putting a notice in the OfficeJournal of the European Union, stating that publishers have until April 21 to register theirinterest in the distribution rights for the proposed title. According to Paddy Power, AssociatedNewspapers has emerged as the favourite, despite the Office of Fair Trading requiring it toforfeit its exclusivity rights agreement with TfL for the morning's Metro newspaper, becauseof its urgency to protect the Evening Standard's London monopoly. Other bidders in the frameare Richard Desmond's Northern & Shell at 10/3, News International at 4/1 and Trinity Mirrorat 8/1. Desmond's wish to launch an evening title for London is no secret, given hecomplained to the OFT in May 2003 about Associated's exclusive deal with LondonUnderground. The success of Metro, which is now available in 15 UK cities, has provenbeyond doubt the viability of a free London paper, with Guardian Media Group also amongthe contenders at 10/1. TfL, which has already confirmed it has received a "significant amountof interest from publishers", now has less than 10 days to register interest from all of theinterested parties. http://www.brandrepublic.com/bulletins/media/article/553533/associatedemerges-favourite-free-london-paper/;April 12, 2006* * * * *News International is considering going it alone in launching a free London eveningnewspaper, regardless of whether it wins the forthcoming Transport for London tender,sparking a battle with Associated Newspapers. According to report in Media Week, NewsInternational is looking to distribute a new paper outside of Tube and train stations in Londonbefore any agreement is made on the Tube contract, giving it a headstart on any future newlaunch. News International had previously looked at the idea of launching a free Londonevening paper, but it abandoned the idea four years ago in 2002 after a distribution deal withRailtrack failed to materialise. Transport for London intends to send out tenders by late June,and a final decision on who gets the contract could be made by the autumn. It is believed thatNews International is waiting for "the green light" from Rupert Murdoch before it makes anyfurther announcement. There is speculation over how much the contract for a new afternoonLondon paper will cost, with Ken Livingstone indicating he expects the bid to be around£4.6m, comparable with the Metro deal. However, others believe that figure will be closer to£1m. If you have an opinion on this or any other issue raised on Brand Republic, join the42