Metro newspaper loses exclusive rights over London Underground |
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Fri, 03 Mar 2006 11:10
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LONDON: British anti-trust regulator the Office of Fair Trading has formally cleared the way for launching more afternoon newspapers on the London Underground and London train stations as it accepted assurances by Associated Newspapers Ltd, a unit of Daily Mail & General Trust Plc., agreeing to give up its exclusive distribution rights mid April.
Associated Newspapers enjoys exclusive publication and distribution rights for the Underground the London train stations now. It distributes its Metro freely. Under the new arrangement, it will give up these exclusive rights by 12 April. It has also promised to give rival afternoon publishers access to its distribution racks inside stations, and "reasonable" space and prominence for their branding.
OFT's director of competition enforcement Vincent Smith said in a statement that the commitment given by Associated Newspapers will open up the market for competitors to provide additional afternoon or evening newspapers to the commuters.
The regulator had carried out investigations into the exclusive rights last year and found that the 24-hour exclusivity "went beyond what could be objectively justified". Associated Newspapers had then offered to forego its rights to exclusive distribution of free papers at London Underground stations, in order to close the regulatory investigation.
Publishing houses, which have expressed interest in distributing free eveningers, include the Daily Express, News International and the Guardian Media Group. The arrangement envisages that Associated Newspapers will retain its morning monopoly and its free Metro newspaper will continue to be distributed.
Associated Newspapers will also expand the Metro to Liverpool and Cardiff and increase the number of copies in circulation in London by 50,000 to 550,000.
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