Metro Vs Herald AM

whiskeyman

A historic day in the world of Irish journalism.
So, what are peoples opinion of the 2 new freesheets?
Are they being circulated effectively?
What do you think of the quality and substance in each?
(I know the first issues are coming under a bit of attack for being "stale", but this should iron itself out).

I havent seen either yet myself... hope to get copies after work.

Genghis

Herald AM is not much more than I suspected - a watered-down version of a crappy title to begin with. It is definitely the tabloid version of the two, but will probably be the early leader on basis of its local brand name. It has loads of adverts, and it seems to be an additional outlet for the Herald classifieds. I hope it cannibalises the Evening Herald sales, but then that's just me!

Metro is a good paper, especially as it is a freesheet - it seems to have less ads, more world news and a good sports section. They have less ads and I noticed also that their distribution was less good - it was only available at Heuston, whereas Herald AM was available when you got on the train.

monument

At 33%, the Irish Times apparently has a larger share in Metro then first thought...

"The Irish Times has told staff that the project is a “strategic investment” and will not involve the use of the newspaper's content"

Loose translation: 'We had the money after not getting some local paper, and one likes to f with the Indo group'.

http://thepost.ie/post/pages/p/story.aspx-qqqt=MEDIA%20AND%20MARKETING-qqqs=mediaandmarketing-qqqid=8603-qqqx=1.asp

Wertz

"In other news; stocks in the companies of several leading toilet tissue manafacturing firms fell sharply today...more at 11"

flodis79

Can Metro and Herald AM only be found in the DART infrastructure? I think they would reach out to even more people in the target group if they put newspaper boxes on Oconnell, Parnell, Grafton, Mary, Henry and some other places.

JohnDigital

Metro has been a success across the UK and Europe and there is no reason that it cannot succeed here too. Herald AM seems to be more of a spoiler on the part of Indo Group rather than a credible alternative for commuters. Indo Group has a big battle on its hands to protect its existing market with the Herald and to attempt to stop Metro dominating the new commuter sector. However Associated newspapers/Metro International have deep pockets and will be prepared for a long battle so Indo Group wont as easily be able to strangle the paper at birth as they did with Dublin Daily.

I was quite impressed with the quality of the Metro yesterday, but I though that Herald AM was really poor. More than half of the paper seemed to be lifted directly out of the Evening Herald and the paper just does not look well laid out. This mornings Herald AM does seem to have improved over yesterday’s efforts but it still isn’t as good a read. For me anyway Metro is winning hands down so far.

What will ultimately mean most success is distribution, who ever gets the paper into the most hands across Dublin will be the ultimate winner because circulations are the key determining factor in advertising revenue. Without which neither can survive.

monument

flodis79 wrote:

Can Metro and Herald AM only be found in the DART infrastructure? I think they would reach out to even more people in the target group if they put newspaper boxes on Oconnell, Parnell, Grafton, Mary, Henry and some other places.

Apprently, they are to be left at 'major' Luas and bus stops/stations.

whiskeyman

monument wrote:

Apprently, they are to be left at 'major' Luas and bus stops/stations.

Most of the major luas / bus stations arent protected by inclement weather.... I wonder how many we'll see fluttering around near the stations or stuck soggy on the tracks.

Downtime

You can get the Metro on Stephens Green (at the Luas station) all along Grafton Street (yop and bottom) and on Pembroke street

jrey1981

Saw both in the office where I work today. Metro is a strong paper, varied content. If you hadnt bought a paid-for daily, you could probably know the essentials of what is going on as well as be entertained. I dont think you could say the same of the AM Herald - I found it sub-standard...

Metro in London and Manchester is a success so no reason to see why it wouldnt be a success in Dublin.

whiskeyman

jrey1981 wrote:

Metro in London and Manchester is a success so no reason to see why it wouldnt be a success in Dublin.

I think the distribution network is key to success here, and it is going to be hard in Dublin.
If you look at Manchester and London especially, you have high density areas where communters start their journeys in the morning to get to work (tube stations in London / Metro line in Manchester).
Dublin, however, suffers from a low density spread of population... it is changing slowly though.
It seems for the Dublin, the easiest method is to hit the commuter as they're on their way home... but will the paper still hold its value then (due to time elapse / old news)?
That's where morning distribution is harder here - only a handful of Dart stations can be used... you can't exacltly leave the paper at any Luas or bus stops as most are non enclosed.

Anyone know anymore about eachs distribution? Will they appear in pubs / record stores etc.. like the Event Guide?
I'm sure some will make a few drops at large company offices... similar to what 'In Dublin' did.

jrey1981

Why can only a handful of dart stations be used?

If because many are non-enclosed then they need to devise a device of enclosing the papers from the weather so you can lift a lid or something and take one...or have people handing them out. It cannot be that hard for them to find a solution.

Jip

They're at most major traffic junctions around the city handing them out to cars aswell as heavily pedestrianised streets so they are reaching a large population of the city centre.

whiskeyman

Jip wrote:

They're at most major traffic junctions around the city handing them out to cars aswell as heavily pedestrianised streets so they are reaching a large population of the city centre.

That's the thing.... You need to hand them out here as it's crossroad junctions that are our high density early morning areas.
I wonder if they plan to keep employing people to hand out for much longer??
I doubt it somehow...

jrey1981

Yep there were loads of people handing them out in Dublin today, particularly outside Tara Street station, on Burgh Quay and all over the place...

I predict that Herald AM will fold first...Associated Newspapers have a huge budget to put into starting a newspaper - eg Ireland on Sunday - due to revenues from the Daily Mail and their other papers. I am not sure that Independent Newspapers have the kind of money for a long haul circulation battle, and I dont understand why they would give away a free paper that is likely to lower sales for the Evening Herald

smiaras

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