Mirror Group Newspapers (MGN) is expected to launch a new daily newspaper in the UK later this month, only weeks after the Independent announced that it was selling its daily cut-price title i to Johnston Press and that it was closing the Independent and Independent on Sunday.
According to some reports the new daily title will be called New Day and will be targeted at the mid-market. The new title is expected to have a cover price that will be less than 50p.
Possibly prompted by the success of i, which was sold for a reputed £25m, MGN views the mid-market, which is dominated by the likes of the Daily Mail, as one to be exploited and developed.
Meanwhile, unaudited accounts for Telegraph Media Group in the UK, which were leaked to The Guardian, show that the group made operating profit of £51m last year.
According to The Guardian, TMG’s pre-tax profits were £47m, up on the £45m in 2014 while turnover was up from £318m to £319m. If the figures are correct when they are fully audited and signed off before being lodged with the Companies Offices in the UK, they will provide some succour to the wider industry at a time when circulation and advertising has been under the cosh for the past few years.
TMG is owned by brothers David and Freddy Barclay who bought the group back in July 2004 for £665m from Hollinger, the company previously controlled by Conrad Black.
