UK national newspapers 

UK Sunday newspapers Back to top

*Trinity Mirror also publishes popular tabloid daily Daily Record and popular tabloid Sunday Mail in Scotland
** Most of the FT's circulation is outside the UK: 128,216 is the UK sales figure
Source: ABC

Associated Newspapers Ltd (Daily Mail) Back to top

Free evening tabloid paper for London launched on 30 August 2006 to protect Associated's Evening Standard and Metro titles against News International's launch, The London Paper. Shares Thisislondon website with the Standard. About 400,000 copies a day were being given away in 2009.

Formerly branded as ANM Network and Associated New Media. Develops and runs website for the group: This is London; This is Money (February 1999); Femail; This is Travel; and UK Plus search engine. In January 2006, bought Primelocation.com. In August 2006, AND bought website SimplySwitch, which allows consumers to compare prices for energy, home phone, mobile, broadband and credit cards, and switch services, for £22 million. However, in March 2008, DMGT shut it down because it had failed to attract enough traffic. It was bought by price-comparison website Moneyexpert.com. Several other websites have failed to fly or were sold: Zoom e-commerce portal with Arcadia (Innovations, Hawkshead catalogues); Charlotte Street for women; Big Blue Dog for recruitment Soccernet (sold to Walt Disney).

Evening News Ltd (London Evening Standard) Back to top

Company formed in December 2008 by Russian billionaire Alexander Lebedev, a former KGB agent turned banker, who owns a minority share in the Moscow paper Nova Gazetaya with Mikhail Gorbachev, former Soviet president. Lebedev took over the Evening Standard from Associated on 21 January 2009 after months courting its owner Lord Rothermere. He paid £1 for a 75.1% stake at a time when the paper could have been losing as much as £20 million a year. It was the first time DGMT had sold a paper. Questions were asked about the security implications of a former spy, who had been based in London for several years, controlling a British paper (there is a long history of journalists - such as James Bond author and Sunday Times writer Ian Fleming - feeding intelligence to security services).

Lebedev told the Guardian: ‘As far as I'm concerned this [buying the Standard] has nothing to do with making money. There are lots of other ways. This is a good way to waste money’ (‘Welcome, comrade proprietor’, 15 January 2009, p1). The FT reported that just one director – 28-year-old Evgeny, Lebedev’s son, boyfriend of actress Joely Richardson and owner of Sake No Hana restaurant, was listed as a director for Evening Press Ltd. The company was registered in December 2008 with a share capital of £40 million - ‘quite a lot for a shell company’ (‘Lebedev junior's Evening Press’, 20 Jan 2009, p18).

London's sole paid-for evening paper was formed as a result of a merger between the Standard and Evening News in 1980. The Standard title dates back to 1827. An erosion in quality led Robert Maxwell to launch London Daily News in 1987. Associated responded by re-launching the Evening News at half the cover price and squeezed Maxwell out a year later. The Evening News was then closed. Another competitor, the free paper Tonight, closed within a year of its launch in 1994.

Rupert Murdoch-controlled News International - with much deeper pockets - was reported as planning to launch a free evening as long ago as 1999 and The London Paper finally appeared in August 2006. However, Associated had got in first with the launch of Metro. Using the same tactics as against Maxwell, DGMT launched London Lite to protect the Standard and Metro. However, the battle took a toll on the Evening Standard's paid-for circulation and DMGT was forced to sell control of the title to Russian businessman Alexander Lebedev. He took a 75.1% stake in January 2009.

The paper was relaunched in May under Geordie Greig, former editor of the society magazine Tatler, with a brief to focus on upbeat news. It expanded its title to become the London Evening Standard. It publishes three editions a day, Monday to Friday, printing at 10am, 3pm and 5pm. On four days it comes with a supplement: London Jobs (Mondays); Homes & Property (Wednesday); Metro Life, a listings guide (Thursdays); and ES Magazine, with celebrity features and arts (Fridays). Carries a media page on Wednesdays.

Guardian Media Group Back to top

Liberal, quality daily switched to Berliner (tall tabloid; 315 by 470mm) format on 12 September 2005. Mould-breaking David Hillman design from 1988 used Garamond, Miller and Helvetica typefaces; these replaced by a new font, Guardian Egyptian. Colour throughout after £80 million investment in MAN Roland ColorMan presses (printed in London and Manchester). Reaction at News Designer blog.

Registration on website required (free). Nickname: the 'Grauniad' because of its reputation for literals (which even appeared in a Netscape browser issued by the paper.) 'Unlimited' series of special interest sites began in late 1998. Bookselling deal announced with Bertelsmann Online in February 1999, but BOL later closed. 

Founded as the Manchester Guardian in 1821 and was the first daily outside London in 1855. Changed its name in 1959 and moved to London in the 1961. Run by the Scott Trust (named after editor C P Scott, one of the most influential journalists of the 1870s) to maintain editorial independence. 

In 1997, appointed a readers' editor and column of corrections and clarifications. By 2005, 10,000 letters a year were being received and 1,500 entries in the column printed. The principle being that 'a newspaper such as the Guardian, which by definition calls on others to be accountable for what they do, should be accountable for its own journalistic activities'.

Widely-praised re-design by David Hillman of Pentagram in early 1988 introduced 'white space' to British daily papers. Very successful classified advertising strategy of introducing themed supplements (Monday, media; Tuesday, education; Wednesday, society; Thursday, technology; Friday, arts review). Various magazine supplements launched in late 1990s. April 1999 saw a re-design led by Simon Esterson (who had done work on the Observer and was was appointed Royal Designer for Industry by the RSA in 2001), which seemed to adopt a more Observer-like look. Among the names the websites have come under are:

• http://www.guardian.co.uk/
• http://www.guardianunlimited.co.uk/ 
• http://www.booksunlimited.co.uk/
• http://www.newsunlimited.co.uk/ 
• http://www.cricketunlimited.co.uk/
• http://www.filmunlimited.co.uk/
• http://www.footballunlimited.co.uk/
• http://www.jobsunlimited.co.uk/
• http://education.guardian.co.uk/

Independent News & Media plc

Original offices were in London's City Road overlooking Bunhill Fields cemetery (burial place of many famous 17th and 18th century writers), hence the title of Bunhill's Notes in Sunday business pages. The 'Weasel' column in the Saturday magazine comes from the nursery rhyme:

'Up and down the City Road,
In and out the Eagle,
That's the way the money goes,
Pop goes the weasel'.

A pub called the Eagle still stands on City Road and 'popping the weasel' means pawning an iron, a popular practice with poor tailors in the area.

News International (Sun, Times)  

Part of the international News Corp group controlled by Rupert Murdoch. Has big stake in BSkyB satellite television and ITV (used, controversially in 2006 to block a merger between ITV and Virgin), and controls book publisher HarperCollins. Extensive media interests in the US and Australia. Murdoch changed from being an Australian to take up US citizenship so he could control the Fox TV network. Murdoch's family has succeeded in retaining control of News Corp, and in the 1990s concentrated on television assets in the US and UK. In 2004, Murdoch announced that the group would switch its emphasis online, buying Intermix Media, for about $580m in 2005 - which gave it control of social networking website MySpace.com.

Having arrived in the UK from Australia to beat Robert Maxwell in buying the News of the World in 1968, Murdoch bought the Sun from IPC. He relaunched this in November 1969 with a 'sex and sensation' formula - personified by topless Page 3 girls. He then bought the Times and Sunday Times and broke the Fleet Street unions by moving to Wapping in 1986.

The paper had a free distribution of about 500,000 copies in July 2009. As a result, Associated sold the loss-making Standard. However, the Murdoch paper fell victim to the recession and announced in August 2009 that the final issue of the London Paper was likely to be on Friday 18 September

Launched on 1st January 1785 by John Walter I as the Daily Universal Register. Renamed on 1 January 1788. Established its reputation for honesty under John Walter II from 1803, who installed steam printing in 1814, and possibly the greatest editor of the century, John Barnes (1817-41). By 1823 it was 'the greatest engine of temporary opinion in the world…' and the paper of record for Britain, then the most powerful country in the world following the defeat of Napoleon, despite the loss of the Americas. US president Abraham Lincoln said it was 'the most powerful thing in the world except, perhaps, the Mississippi river'. 

Carried classified advertising on its front page until 1966 and on the back page until 1982. On Friday 13, 1981 it became a sister paper to the Sun, as part of Rupert Murdoch's News International. In 1986, Murdoch broke the print unions by moving to 'Fortress' Wapping, though the damage done to the paper's quality and reputation opened the door for the Independent. Led fierce price war from 1993 when it cut the cover price from 45p to 30p (and 10p on Monday). This raised sales at the expense of the Independent, Telegraph and Express.

Set up in 2005 with a brief to capitalise on the growing weeklies market. NI already had two monthly spin-offs from the Sunday Times: Travel (a contract title by River since 1993) and Inside Out (closed in early 2007). Women's weekly Love It! launched in February 2006. Reported to be researching weekly news magazine. Took licence for Sky magazine - the UK's biggest circulation title for BSkyB's 8m subscribers - from John Brown in December 2006 (Murdoch has always been fond of keeping money within the group).

Northern & Shell (Express Newspapers)

Top-shelf magazines and OK! publisher Richard Desmond bought Express newspapers from Lord Hollick's United MAI for £125m in November 2000. Hollick reformed United as a business magazine and business group, United Business Media. Desmond's interest in music - he plays the drums - led him to launch International Musician in 1974, but it was producing the UK edition of the US adult magazine, Penthouse that made his first fortune.

United MAI had been formed by the merger in 1996 of Lord Stevens's newspaper-based Express group with Lord Hollick's TV and finance-based MAI group (Anglia, HTV and Meridian franchises as well as production companies). Owns NOP and United Information Group; PR Newswire and Newsdesk International, which distribute press releases online; big shareholder with BT and News International in LineOne Internet provider; Telegraph Colour Library. Sold off consumer magazines (Punch, Auto Express, etc) to concentrate on its Miller Freeman business titles (renamed after US subsidiary; formerly known as Morgan-Grampian). Sold Westminster regional newspapers in 1998 for £450 million (became Regional Independent Media).

Pearson plc 

International media and entertainment group. By 2005, structured as three divisions: Financial Times Group, Penguin books and Pearson Education.

From being a diverse group of quality companies (including Château Latour, Warwick Castle, Madame Tussauds and oil interests), Pearson concentrated on publishing and TV in the 1990s. In February 1999, it merged Addison-Wesley Longman and Financial Times Management books imprints under one Pearson Education banner. This followed the purchase of educational division of Simon and Schuster from US entertainment group Viacom for $4.6 billion in 1998, making Pearson the largest educational publisher in the world. This included Prentice Hall in the UK. Sold local newspaper group Westminster Press in 1997 and consumer magazines, including Future Publishing in April 1998 (for £142m).

Then, it also sold the TV division, which included Thames TV, Grundy TV (makers of Neighbours) and Pearson TV (Men Behaving Badly) to RTL in mid-1990s, along with rights to games show formats such as Blankety Blank, Blockbuster, Family Fortunes and The Price is Right.

US-born chief executive, Marjorie Scardino, was the first female head of a top 100 UK company. She revealed after an RSA lecture (RSA Journal, April 1999) that the question she was most frequently asked was whether the company would relocate to the USA.

Launched in 1888, the world's leading financial daily. About 70% of sales outside the UK. Has daily editions for UK, Europe, US and Asia printed at about 25 sites. Printed on pink paper since 1893. Highly-regarded opinion column Lex once famously advised readers not to support the FT's owners Pearson in its plan to buy British Aluminium, since when the column has not covered Pearson. Limited free access to website.

One of the first daily newspapers to exploit the potential of the Saturday paper. FT Weekend includes the monthly How To Spend It, which is a very popular, tabloid-sized glossy, and FT Magazine. The former is available online as a digital facsimile.

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Press Holdings Ltd (Telegraph)

Press Holdings is controlled by the Barclay brothers, Sir David and Sir Frederick. They bought the Telegraph group in 2004 from Hollinger International after main shareholder Conrad Black became embroiled in financial scandal (and was later jailed in the US).

Started by buying the European in November 1991 after the death of disgraced Robert Maxwell. The weekly had gone through several formats, from broadsheet newspaper to tabloid newsprint magazine before being closed in 1998. Then The Business (was Sunday Business) in September 1997 and The Scotsman. Former Sunday Times editor Andrew Neil has been editor-in-chief since 1996, and publisher since 1999. Press Holdings sold the Scotsman papers to Johnston Press in December 2005 for £160m. Backed down from buying the Glasgow-based Herald newspapers in 2003 after protests from Scottish establishment. In late 2006, relaunched the weekly Sunday newspaper Business as a magazine, but this was closed in early 2008 (in favour of launching a business magazine off the back of The Spectator).

Lord Black and Hollinger had gained control of the Telegraph in 1986, after the previous owners, the Berry family, faced financial problems. However, Black himself faced mounting difficulties from the end of 2003. These included lawsuits by angry fellow shareholders in Hollinger International; inquiries by the powerful US financial watchdog, the Securities and Exchange Commission; and an investigation by an independent committee at Hollinger International itself.

Trinity Mirror Group (Mirror)  

It was commonly known as the Queen Mother's favourite newspaper. Jamie Reid in a commentary on its closure (Guardian, 5/3/99, p23) said: 'Whenever a British film in the Forties and Fifties wanted to signify that some George Cole or Terry Thomas character was a touch wide, they would show them smoking a Players Navy Cut and reading the Sporting Life'. According to research quoted by Roy Greenslade (Guardian Media, 8/3/99, p4), a daily sporting paper might achieve of 220,000 copies a day (plus or minus 40,000). This was based on a cover price of 40p with a weekday pagination of 48 and 80 pages on a Sunday. However, the marketing bill would have been £10 million in the first year and Mirror group was in poor financial shape following the departure of chief executive David Montgomery a month before and a bidding war which had broken out for the group between regional newspaper groups Trinity and Regional Independent Media.

Launched web portal in March 1999 as ic24 (I see, 24 hours) with offshoots in 2000: icShowbiz; icChoice; icSport and icTravel. Also 14 regional sites. Sports sites Soccerbase and Cricketbase. Sells its archive of pictures online at Mirrorpix. In 1998, launched internet paper dot.com, distributed free with Wharf, a local paper for Canary Wharf, where the papers are based in London's Docklands. Live TV cable channel sold off in 1999 and some papers in Northern Ireland. In July 2006, sold trade magazines and exhibition business Inside Communications to private equity-backed Ocean Media for £41.5m