LIVE LONG & PROSPER?
EVGENY LEBEDEV – aka Baron Beardie of Siberia – has long been recognised as Britain’s silliest press proprietor, but does anyone else at the top of his
London Standard
have the first clue what they are doing either?
In 2009 the daily Evening Standard went free, and was given away outside the capital’s Tube stations. One year ago it was announced that it would be transforming into a weekly, while abandoning the glossy ES magazine that carried its most valuable advertising. Then last week, the Standard’s new chief executive Tamar Riley – the fourth CEO in five years – emailed staff to say the title is reverse-ferreting and going on sale again – although only in “outer London” and in supermarkets “through to the Kent coast”, while remaining worthless in “central areas where we have the greatest visibility and impact”. Paying punters, meanwhile, will be asked an optimistic £2 per copy. Given that the Standard has lost almost £150m since going free, it may take some time to refill those coffers.