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Cheaper Spanish daily to debut

A new daily newspaper will hit Spain's already crammed newsstands on Wednesday that will cost half of the amount charged by its paid competitors in an effort to steal readers from both paid and hugely popular free papers.

Called Publico, the left-leaning newspaper will have 64 full-color pages -- compared to the roughly 20 pages put out by free newspapers -- and will feature more graphics and bigger pictures, as well as shorter articles than paid papers.

The paper, backed by Spanish media group Mediapro, will focus on arts, science and sports and cost 0.50 euros, (US$0.70) compared to 1 euro for most papers, director Ignacio Escolar said.

"Politics will not be a subject which we will dedicate most of our time and efforts," he said last week at a news conference.

The target of the newspaper will be young urban residents who began reading daily newspapers after the arrival of free newspapers with their generally breezier style, Publico director-general Juan Pedro Valentin said.

Publico will have a print run of 250,000 copies but Mediapro, an affiliate of WPP Group, refused to give a forecast for sales of the newspaper.

"We can call this newspaper a sort of hybrid," said Carlos Lozano, president of the Association for Mass Media Investigation, because it combines features of both paid and free newspapers.

Publico appears to be viable, he said, since sales of paid newspapers have held up in the face of competition from the Internet and free newspapers while readership of free newspapers is rising.

Four out of the 10 most-read newspapers in Spain are distributed for free and the arrival of the free papers has "set off a revolution," Lozano said.

"It has expanded the number of readers. The paid press attracts relatively older people, of a higher social class. The free newspapers have expanded this base, adding younger people, those of a lower class, immigrants," he said.

With its 2.37 million readers, 20minutos, a free daily, is Spain's most read newspaper, followed by sports daily Marca with 2.33 million readers and left-leaning paid daily El Pais with 2.18 million readers, association figures showed.

In addition to targeting readers of free newspapers, Publico is also aimed at those who are already faithful to a daily newspaper but often buy a second one to complement their daily press dose, Valentin said.

Mediapro, a major shareholder in television channel La Sexta, has been stepping up its competition with Prisa.

Last year it bought the rights to broadcast football matches involving Spanish giants Real Madrid and Barcelona in a blow to Sogecable, Spain's leading pay-TV platform, which is controlled by Prisa and telecoms firm Telefonica.

Commenting on the growing clash between the two firms, former Spanish Socialist prime minister Felipe Gonzalez said he was "worried" about the possibility of "collateral damage and friendly fire."
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