Metro International

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For other newspapers with the same name, see Metro (disambiguation).

Metro International is a Swedish media company based in Luxembourg that publishes the Metro newspapers. Metro International's advertising sales have grown at a compound annual growth rate of 41% since launch of the first newspaper edition in 1995.^[1] It is a freesheet, meaning that distribution is free, with revenues thus generated entirely through advertising. This newspaper is primarily intended for commuters who move daily in and out of big cities business areas, mainly during rush hours.

The company was founded by Pelle Andersson and started as a subsidiary of the Modern Times Group along with Viasat Broadcasting. It is now controlled through an investment company named Kinnevik. The first edition of the newspaper was published as Metro Stockholm and distributed in the Stockholm Metro.

[edit] Metro newspapers

As of January 2007, there were 70 daily editions in more than 100 major cities in 20 countries in 18 languages across Europe, North & South America and Asia for an audience of more than 20 million daily readers and 42 million weekly readers.^[1]

Metro newspaper editions are distributed in high-traffic commuter zones or in public transport networks from a combination of self-service racks and by hand distributors on weekdays. Saturday editions are published in Stockholm, Santiago and São Paulo. The distribution points are located either in, or around, public transport networks (subways, trains, buses, trams), office buildings, retail outlets, at key distribution points on busy streets, or in other high-density population areas such as college campuses.

The local name of the Metro newspaper editions may vary due to trademark issues. Chilean and Mexican editions are called Publimetro and the Spanish edition is named Metro Directo. Another freesheet] called Metro is published in twelve areas around Britain by Associated Newspapers: see Metro (Associated Metro Limited).

In the UK, this is not related to Metro International, which used the name Morning News for its (now defunct) freesheet distributed there. Metro International and Associated Metro do however collaborate on the Dublin Metro newspaper (launched 10 October 2005), which they both own a third of, along with The Irish Times. The Dublin Metro newspaper uses the Associated Metro logo and format however^[2] .It is reported that Metro International has plans to launch a rival free evening newspaper in London.^{[citation needed]}

Metro International launched several editions in Canada during 2006, leading to the creation of several commuter newspaper competitors, such as Sun Media's 24 Hours.

The local version of Metro in Mexico City, Publimetro, has been criticized because it is distributed almost exclusively for commuters traveling by car. People who distribute the newspaper focus in main avenues and almost never visit subway or bus stations, which drive an important portion of commuters in the city. Pedestrians also seldomly receive the newspaper. This has led the companies advertising in Publimetro to lose potential sales because their publicity is not reaching many of their target customers.

Copy of the Boston Metro on the floor of an MBTA bus. Next to it are pages from BostonNOW, a competing newspaper also given away free at MBTA stations.

[edit] Time line of Metro editions

Metro first launched in Stockholm on 13 February 1995.
A German-language edition is published in Switzerland by "Metro Publication (Schweiz) AG" under the name Metropol on 31 January 2000 as a direct competitor to 20 Minuten. The newspaper ceased publication without announcement on 13 February 2002.
In 2000, a Spanish edition named Publimetro is published in Buenos Aires, Argentina, with a circulation of 390,000.^[3] Facing competition from the free daily La Razon published by Grupo Clarin, Publimetro is suspended indefinitely a year later.^[4]
A weekly magazine named Metropop starts publication in Hong Kong on April 27, 2006 (published on Thursdays).
In end of 2006, Metro started a dedicated technology paper, [Metro Teknik (English section)], which once a week is distributed to companies, science parks, and technical universities around Sweden.
Due to financial difficulties in the press sector in general, and the free press in particular, Metro International closed down its Polish edition on January 5, 2007. Earlier, the Danish afternoon version of the newspaper was closed down, and the business in Finland was sold.