London Lite's last day

Posted by Betsey Reinsborough on November 13, 2009 at 11:50 AM

London Lite will publish its last issue today, announced the BBC. The free daily, owned by Associated Newspapers, had previously declared that it would be closing following the announcement that the Evening Standard would drop its 50 pence cover price to become a free daily.

London Lite was launched in 2006 within days of thelondonpaper, Rupert Murdoch's entrant in the competition which closed this past September, to compete with the Evening Standard. The free cover price, however, proved to be too much competition. Especially since the Evening Standard has seen its circulation double since it went free- from 250 000 to 600 000. London Lite's parent company, Daily Mail & General Trust, also owns just under a quarter of the Evening Standard; the remaining shares are owned by Russian billionaire Alexander Lebedev.

London Lite, which was last reported to have a circulation of 400 000 daily, employees 36 people.

The closure leaves London with two free dailies: Metro in the morning and the Evening Standard in the afternoon.

Sources: BBC, Evening Standard