Media Week, Media Week, 06 February 2007, 00:00am

London Lite shades rival in popularity, survey claims

Some 58% of thelondonpaper's readers prefer London Lite, according to research conducted by Other Lines of Enquiry on behalf of Associated Newspapers, which publishes London Lite.

Of those who read thelondonpaper every day, 30% felt it was better than London Lite. Meanwhile, 18% of those who read London Lite every day preferred thelondonpaper. The research involved 1,184 interviews between 6 and 24 November in a cross-section of 26 Zone 1 central London locations.

The research suggests that 90% of respondents were aware of London Lite, compared with 83% of people who were aware of thelondonpaper.

Research director Jason Brownlee said: "People find it easier to recall because of the family resemblance (to Metro). A new product has a massive competitive advantage if it feels familiar.

"Secondly, the figures show that respondents judged London Lite to be a better editorial product."

Both papers had similar readerships, with a ratio of male to female of about 60:40 and around 80% ABC1 demographic. The sample almost exactly replicates the Zone 1 demographic, as revealed by TGI.

Half the people who read the free papers read both of them.

Steve Auckland, managing director of Associated's free newspapers division said; "There was a bit of trepidation for us with the research - we weren't sure what would come back. Of course we had faith in the product but we wondered which one the public would go for."

'Other Lines of Enquiry' is a subsidiary of Dipsticks Research and other clients include ITV, UTV, Emap, Dennis, IPC and Daily Telegraph.