A newspaper that switched from daily to weekly last year has been split into two sections after readers complained that the new-look paper was too big.
The Lincolnshire Echo, which made the frequency change last October,will now contain a separate section called Echo 2 containing motors, property, and a homes and gardens supplement.
When the change was first announced by owner Northcliffe Media, it said the new weekly edition would be a ‘paper of substance’ which would run to up to 184 pages.
But announcing the launch of Echo 2, Lincolnshire publisher Richard Duxbury admitted that some readers had complained that the paper now took too long to read.
Said Richard: “For the Lincolnshire Echo, going weekly was just the start of the evolution of the newspaper with the business constantly looking to improve what was being offered to readers and advertisers.
“Nothing is perfect and there has been the comment that it is ‘too big’, with some readers being put off by the thought of how long it was going to take to read it all.”
The change aims to improved navigation around the publication so readers can find what they are looking for more easily.
It is hoped it will appeal to those readers who felt it was too big to attempt in one go, and has been produced at no additional cost.
Added Richard: “It is a simple idea that separates the publication into two parts. The first part is news, what’s on, nostalgia, sport, our regular comment and columns etc. The middle part, Echo 2, will be the supplement section where our weekly supplements are housed in one place.
“This move shows our community that we want, listen and act on their feedback.”
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They should have gone twice weekly. Monday/Tuesday for all the weekend sport and news etc.. then Friday for week-ahead TV, going out guide and so on. There would easily be enough news and ads to sustain two decent-size papers each week. And extra cover price revenue too.
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That’s too logical for the powers that be, Fred. Chop, chop, chop is all they see. Soon they’ll cut off their own bloodline… without readers and advertisers, who are both frustrated by the on-going axing of bodies all over the industry, there will be no one, and nothing, left.
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The twice weekly Whitby Gazette (also JP) has just gone from a twice weekly (Tues/ Friday i think) to a 100+ page weekly so it looks like one edition a week is the thinking for the time being.
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Two sections should have been obvious from the very start. Still, the idea that overfacing the readers was putting people off seems like a ready-made excuse for poor sales. How much do they charge for an edition?
I like the bi-weekly idea but have no idea about the economics of twice weekly distribution. They’d sell more but would it be worth it?
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Next week…
learn to breath with JP
We take you through the basics!
Splitting it in two!
How very clever!
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Have a go at JP by all means but the Lincs Echo is, as the story makes clear, owned by Northcliffe.
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Too much to read? It’s just ludicrous – ‘sorry your product provides too much value for money – please make it worse’.
Bear in mind that it is the management which is reporting this response…I’m sure it will be evolving to something much smaller soon.
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What a load of negative claptrap. Are we all caught in a spiral of doom where any change is seen as another tragic turn for the worst? All that’s happened here is that four pages have been ADDED to engineer a wrap which collects all the supplements neatly together. Calm down everybody.
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So, with anticipated new look ET @ 160 pages due out this month is this a wrong move? It will be interesting to see if they are going down the Northcliffe route?
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Lincoln people have said to me that the news is now old that is in the
Lincolnshire Echo.
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