Hopes high of minimal damage from launch of free Record PMs

WITH the Daily Record’s evening edition about to switch from being 15p to free – with Aberdeen and Dundee being added to the current distribution network of Edinburgh and Glasgow – hopes are relatively high that the damage to the four cities’ paid-for titles will be minimal.

Since the Record PM is not being thrust into people’s hands until 5pm, it is believed that sales of the paid-for titles in the four cities – Aberdeen’s Evening Express, Dundee’s Evening Telegraph, Edinburgh’s Evening News and Glasgow’s Evening Times – might be little affected.

Said one senior newspaper insider: “By 5pm, the paid-fors will have already been on sale for a long time.

“The Record PM may be a read for commuters, but the paid-fors are for more than commuting; they’re too full to be read during a commute.

“So, the paid-for titles should not necessarily fear their readers will stop wanting all that content in return for a free paper that is a shorter read.”