NotW rivals set for boost
THE News of the World was arguably the jewel in the crown of Murdoch’s UK newspaper stable.
With 2.6m weekly sales generating £135m gross revenue per year, the paper was second only to its sister daily, the Sun, in its success in the UK market.
Its advertisers also contributed an estimated £35m per year, according to Panmure Gordon analyst Alex deGroote, who said its demise could only benefit its competitors – Mail on Sunday owner DMGT, and Sunday Mirror owner Trinity Mirror.
Trinity Mirror’s Sunday titles, with a total circulation of 1.5m and advertising revenue of about £25m, would gain on both counts, he said.
“On Wednesday we said these events would give Trinity a bit of a push; we didn’t quite anticipate this,” DeGroot told City A.M.
But Patrick Yau, media analyst at Peel Hunt warned the gains may not last. “It will depend whether Murdoch adds a new title,” he said.
By launching a Sunday version of the Sun, Murdoch could swiftly recoup some of these losses.
Collins Stewart analyst Tom Eagan said News of the World’s loss would be minimal to parent company News Corp, even if the paper once made up a big chunk of the firm’s $1.2bn (£750m) total revenues in the UK.