A full-scale newspaper war is set to erupt in the Home Counties after rival publishers each unveiled expansion plans on the same patch.
Regional publishing giant Newsquest has announced that the first edition of the Oxfordshire Star will hit the streets next Thursday, with the company aiming for a readership of 22,000.
It comes days after Oxfordshire-based independent publisher Taylor Newspapers vowed to take on the industry ‘Goliaths’ with the launch of a new edition of the Oxfordshire Guardian.
Its managing director Howard Taylor today described Newsquest’s move as a “counter-offensive” aimed at halting the Guardian’s expansion.
A dummy edition of Newsquest’s Oxfordshire Star which is to launch next week
Said Howard: “It is a compliment to see such a powerful organisation follow our lead and attempt to replicate our success in Oxfordshire.
“I hope that other independents can find the courage to challenge the might of the big players – we are in for a battle.”
Newsquest’s new free Star, which the company says has been launched as a result of feedback from advertisers and staff, will be available to pick up from sites across Oxfordshire
It will not have a dedicated website, but will be supported online by Newsquest’s existing portfolio of Oxfordshire sites.
Chris Moore, managing director of Newsquest Oxfordshire & Wiltshire, said: “We believe there is a good opportunity for us to extend and develop our print audience via the launch of a new free newspaper that complements our existing portfolio of paid for newspapers, magazines and digital platforms.
“The Oxfordshire Star will further strengthen our reach with the growing population in the county and provide an additional platform for local advertisers.”
Newsquest regional editor Gary Lawrence, who will have editorial responsibility for the new paper, said the Star would be a “bright, busy and colourful community newspaper”.
He added: “We are blessed with wonderful communities and a vibrant social scene and the Oxfordshire Star will reflect that.
“It will feature news, sport and leisure, as well as property, motors and jobs. I’m sure readers will enjoy the latest addition to our Oxfordshire portfolio.”
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A newspaper turf war in Oxford, awesome, where’s Inspector Morse when you need him?
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This is a warning for Johnston Press. Because JP has run down many of its titles by starving them of resources, their circulation areas must be targets for rival publishers. Well done, JP beancounters!
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well said delboy. What JP needs to improve its lamentable quality is some competition, especially in the south where NQ does not challenge JP at weekly paper level, except with poor quality non-local free papers.
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Turf war? There will be deaths.
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Go, Guardian! Hope you can survive the inevitable dirty tricks from the opposition. And please don’t fall for it when, if you’re winning, they offer to buy you out.
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Blimey, rival businesses vie for customers shock. Who would’ve thought it? By the by, have I told you about the time I went to Pembroke College, Oxford, in 1728 but had to jack it in after a year because I was skint. However, after my Dictionary was published I got an honorary degree in 1755… look, the story’s there for anyone in Oxfordshire who wants it, corporate or independent. Just put quill to parchment and drop me a line.
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A big digital-first player launching a free print product just to keep grubby little outsiders off their patch? Good Lord, it’s the 1980s all over again…
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Competition among local papers! wow!
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So Newport has another paper to sub from Oxford? Just as well they got rid of all the subs at Newsquest Oxfordshire, that will help.
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Great! Two titles fighting over the same set of disengaged readers and low to non-paying advertisers. Of course it’ll work! It’s got revenue streams written all over it!
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Oxfordshire, the Home Counties, really?
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This is not a turf war between two local newspaper “giants”, its express aim is to shut down an independent group’s newspaper operations. Newsquest know that they don’t have to make much of a profit to drain the rival of just enough advertising revenue to make it difficult to sustain.
And since Newsquest are being unusually talkative, how many extra staff is it employing to produce *ahem* Oxfordshire’s “brightest FREE newspaper”? The answer, and I will be happily corrected if I am wrong, is not one. It is a predatory launch, aimed at crushing this upstart competition that must be damaging its core product.
So to Mr Taylor, I say, sir tough times are ahead. You no doubt anticipated such a move and will be prepared for a long term battle. So good luck to you. I think, those of us that still care about the future of a local press should offer what support we can. Certainly I would like to offer my help.
And please take heart, judging by the front page of this new rag, thrown together quickly and with little imagination, it has the real stamp of another kwality Newsquest product.
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Percy. 100% on the money with those comments.
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Full marks to Percy Hoskins who has absolutely hit the nail on the head.
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As a previous MD of Banbury Guardian, I wish all the best but why not launch online?
Seems crazy to me!
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The Star was around for years so the crap here is that’s its not a launch at all….newsquest didn’t even tell its clients it had closed???
Howard Julian and the team will push forward!
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