London's Evening Standard to scrap daily print edition for weekly publication

Sky News

Updated 29 May 2024 at 1:10 pm·2-min read

London's Evening Standard is set to scrap its daily newspaper after almost 200 years, in favour of a weekly publication.

The newspaper, first published as The Standard in 1827 before the introduction of its evening edition in 1859, is currently circulated for free at underground stations around the capital from Monday to Friday.

But in an email to staff - seen by the PA news agency - the paper's chairman Paul Kanareck said it had been making "substantial losses", prompting the need for a change.

The memo said fewer commuters travelling through London following the COVID pandemic, changing consumer behaviours, and the introduction of wifi on parts of the London Underground had affected the newspaper.

Pre-COVID, the paper was distributing around 700,000 copies, in comparison to around 274,000 copies last month, according to figures by the Press Gazette.

"We plan to consult with our staff and external stakeholders to reshape the business, return to profitability and secure the long-term future of the number one news brand in London," the email read.

Mr Kanareck proposed the new weekly newspaper would include more in-depth analysis and relevant lifestyle, sports and culture guides and news.

He said: "Although this process may be unsettling, our goal is to replicate our previous success with our sister title, The Independent, which has seen enduring growth in readership and commercial success following its own strategic transition in 2016."

The Evening Standard is owned by Evgeny Lebedev, who brought the paper for £1 back in 2009.

A shareholder in The Independent and the son of Russian oligarch and former KGB agent, Alexander Lebedev, he was appointed to the House of Lords in November 2020.

The move to end the Evening Standard's daily run comes at a turbulent time for the wider print and news industry, which has seen numerous job cuts and company restructures in recent years.

Earlier this year, the publisher Reach, which owns the Daily Mirror and the Express newspapers, revealed plans to cut costs and reduce jobs as part of efforts to boost its online presence.

It said it needed to evolve to meet an "increasingly fast-paced, competitive and customer-focused digital world".

The Evening Standard has been contacted for comment.

BuzzFeed
"I Was Terminated The Next Day": Employees Are Sharing The Worst Work Screw-Up They Made Or Witnessed That Haunt Them To This Day
"I grabbed my things from my desk, left the office immediately without telling anyone, and never returned."
BuzzFeed
"It Was A Government Office, So We Thought It Was A Chemical Attack": Tell Us The Wildest Situation That Has Happened At Your Job
"Bookkeeper at our public library was fired after 27 years..for EMBEZZLING. From a public library? Sheesh."
The Independent
Traveler slammed for leaving friend behind at the airport
‘It sounds exhausting traveling with you,’ one harsh reader says
BuzzFeed
36 Historical Images That Are Genuinely Wild To See Now
TIL, during WWII, pennies were made of steel instead of copper because they needed copper to make ammunition.
The Independent
17 writers who loathed the adaptations of their work: ‘If you like my stuff, don’t watch that movie’
THE COUNTDOWN: From Truman Capote’s problem with Audrey Hepburn in ‘Breakfast at Tiffany’s’ to Lois Duncan’s very personal offence over ‘I Know What You Did Last Summer’ and Quentin Tarantino’s public beef with Oliver Stone, Annabel Nugent counts down 17 times writers hated adaptations of their work
The Independent
JD Vance endorsed book calling left ‘unhumans’ written by Pizzagate conspiracy theorist
Trump’s new running mate also wrote foreward on upcoming book about Project 2025
The Guardian
‘Redefine conversation’: how Just a Minute can help people living with dementia
An academic paper says the show creates ideal conditions for ‘cognitive overload’ and demonstrates how to avoid it
The Telegraph
What alien life might actually look like – and how we’ll find it
How likely is it that we’re not alone in the universe? The idea goes in and out of fashion. In 1600, the philosopher Giordano Bruno was burnt at the stake for this and other heterodox beliefs. Exactly 300 years later, the French Académie des Sciences announced a prize for establishing communication with life anywhere but on Earth or Mars – since people already assumed that Martians did exist.
Wales Online
Escape to the Country host halts show for announcement as couple 'struggling'
Escape to the Country star Nicki was tasked with finding the perfect home for couple Lizzy and husband Matt, who were struggling to contain their emotions in the episode
Evening Standard
OpenAI announces SearchGPT to rival Google - Tech & Science Daily podcast
OpenAI has launched a prototype of its own search engine, which it hopes to eventually incorporate into ChatGPT. As the 2024 Olympics begins in Paris, work is underway to prepare an alternative competition: the Enhanced Games. Christian Angermayer, a German entrepreneur and founder of Atai Life Sciences is the co-founder of the Enhanced Games, which are due to begin next year.
BANG Showbiz
Rich Paul 'creates film about his life'
Rich Paul is working on a new feature film based on 'Lucky Me', his dramatic memoir.
The Independent
She saw the Titanic sink and the end of World War I. Now, the oldest American just turned 115
Elizabeth Francis says the key to living a long life is to ‘speak your mind and don’t hold your tongue’
The Northern Echo
Ha'way man! North East dialects remain 'alive and kicking', new academic book reveals
University of Sunderland academic Dr Mike Pearce has said that regional dialects in the North East are thriving as he launched his new book on the topic.
Cover Media
Great Escape Hero’s World War II Pocket Book Discovered In House Clearance
Great Escape Hero’s World War II Pocket Book Discovered In House Clearance. A 1939 pocket book and cap belonging to a World War II Great Escape hero is heading to auction. The ‘amazing discovery’ was found during a house clearance in the Midlands, England. The book belonged to Australian-born RAF Flight Lieutenant Paul Gordon Royle. Royle will be forever remembered as one of 76 Allied airmen who escaped a Nazi prisoner of war camp 80 years ago in one of the most famous jail breaks in history. The German Luftwaffe designed the Stalag Luft III camp to be escape-proof but airmen, immortalised in the 1963 film The Great Escape, proved them wrong. On March 24, 1944, Paul was number 55 in a line of prisoners waiting to crawl out through a tunnel named ‘Harry’. Armed with civilian-style clothes, rations and a compass, they made their way out of the tunnel onto snow-covered ground at 2.30am on March 25, 1944. They spent 24 hours on the run before being recaptured by German Auxiliary Police. Royle was interrogated and put into solitary confinement but his life was spared. He was liberated on May 2, 1945 and discharged from the RAF. He returned to Australia and lived to the grand old age of 101 after dying in 2015 in Perth, the last but one veteran of The Great Escape. The Great Escape pocketbook of Flt Lt Paul Gordon Royle will be offered in Hansons Auctioneers’ August 7, 2024 Medals and Militaria Auction.
Glasgow Times
Top BBC radio show to broadcast live from Skypark
BBC Radio 4's flagship political discussion show is coming to Skypark.
The Guardian
TikTok’s algorithm is highly sensitive – and could send you down a hate-filled rabbit hole before you know it
TikTok’s highly active recommendation system is designed to keep users clicking on videos, even if they contain racist or homophobic content
Herald Scotland
Best-selling Glasgow Kiss book series to be turned into major BBC show
The best selling book by 'A Glasgow Kiss' by Sophia Gravia is being adapted for the small screen.
The Guardian
Five of the best books about conspiracy theories
From Covid misinformation to the JFK assassination, these compelling reads explore how conspiracies seduce believers
Sky News
Boleskine House once owned by Aleister Crowley and Led Zeppelin's Jimmy Page receives lottery funding for restoration work
A charity working to restore a historic manor that once belonged to the son of a Jacobite, an occultist and a legendary rock star has received a £250,000 lotto boost. Boleskine House is more than 260 years old and overlooks Loch Ness in the Scottish Highlands. It was built by Archibald Campbell Fraser of Lovat - son of Simon Fraser, a Jacobite nicknamed "the Fox" who was executed for supporting Bonnie Prince Charlie.
The Telegraph
Melania Trump to release ‘intimate’ memoir
Melania Trump, the usually private former first lady, is releasing a memoir this autumn which her publishers promise will be an “intimate” portrait of her life.

Latest stories