Metro (Associated Metro Limited)

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For other newspapers with the same name, see Metro (newspaper).

Metro
Cover on October 25, 2004.
Type	Daily free newspaper
Format	Tabloid

Owner	Associated Newspapers
Editor	Kenny Campbell
Founded	1999
Political allegiance	independent
Headquarters	Kensington, London

Website: http://www.metro.co.uk

Metro is the trading name of a free daily newspaper, published by Associated Newspapers (part of Daily Mail and General Trust) in the United Kingdom and Republic of Ireland. It is available from Monday to Friday each week on most public transport services across the United Kingdom.

The paper was launched in London in 1999, and can now be found in 12 urban centres. Localised editions are distributed in Birmingham, Cardiff, Edinburgh, Glasgow, Leeds, Manchester, Liverpool, Newcastle, Sussex, Sheffield, The East Midlands, Bristol and Bath. A Dublin version, launched in conjunction with Metro International and The Irish Times, began publications on 10 October 2005. It is part of the same media group as the Daily Mail, The Mail on Sunday and the Evening Standard, although in some areas, the paper operates as a franchise with a local newspaper publisher, rather than as a wholly owned concern.

In its first five years, it rocketed to over 1 million daily readers, making it the UK's fourth largest daily newspaper. It now prints approximately 1m copies daily, and officially has some 1.7m readers, as of September 2005. This high readership is due in part to the papers being left on seats on buses or Underground/Metro trains, and then being picked up by the next person to use that seat. Due to its urban and mainly youthful audience, advertising receipts have been very healthy at a time when its older stablemate, the Evening Standard, had not been performing so well. 62 per cent of readers are ABC1 (upper/middle class social grade), 78 per cent are aged 15–44 and 64 per cent are in work.

The Metro concept comes from Sweden. Metro International, a different company, originally planned to launch in the UK but Associated Newspapers effectively beat them to it. Nevertheless, they have had plans to launch a rivalling free evening newspaper in London.[1]. As noted above, Metro International does co-operate with Associated Metro on the Dublin version of the newspaper, although it is Associated Metro which provides the content, and the Dublin Metro uses the Associated Metro logo, not the Metro International one. [2]. Similarly, Rupert Murdoch is said to have regretted missing the opportunity of launching his own London paper. However, News International, a UK subsidiary of Murdoch's News Corporation, launched a London-based newspaper in 2006 called, Thelondonpaper.

The newspaper was designed to be read in 20 minutes. One of the major ways in which it is different from most other UK newspapers is that it claims to take a determinedly independent line on political reporting. (Some commentators, such as Piers Morgan, have taken the view that traditional newspapers can only be sold on comment, not raw news.)

The features section contains a mix of articles on travel, homes, style, health and so on, as well as extensive arts coverage and entertainment listings. The popular puzzles page contains the cartoon strips Nemi (by Lise Myhre), and This Life (by Rick Brookes), astrology readings by Wendy Bristow, and Sudoku. Previously, it featured David J. Bodycombe's Think Tank brainteasers and a Judge Dredd strip.