Good night, New Day: Trinity Mirror confirms closure of title after nine weeks
Trinity Mirror has today confirmed that it is closing its fledgling title New Day, less than three months after it first launched.
In a statement released ahead of its AGM, the publisher remarked that the title's circulation had been "below expectations", despite having built a strong following on Facebook, and it will therefore close on Friday 6 May.
Following the announcement, shares in the company spiked, trading up 7.3 per cent at 121.25p around 10am London time.
The statement also noted the market for print advertising was "volatile" and that group revenue fell 9.3 per cent in the first quarter – although at present, the board expects the company's performance for the year to be in-line with market expectations.
The statement also mentioned Trinity Mirror was in the process of settling claims related to the phone hacking scandal, but did not feel the need to make changes to the provision for handling this. It added it believed the company's exposure to the fallout was "manageable".
Yesterday, Morning Wire discovered the circulation for the newspaper, which focused on positive stories, had dropped below 40,000, well below the 200,000 target Trinity Mirror had set for the title.
In an interview with Morning Wire at the time of New Day's launch, chief executive Simon Fox was transparent that the company would cut its losses if the new venture failed to live up to expectations.
Fox also remarked that he would "watch [the newspaper's circulation] carefully over the next six months" and that "we’ve made it clear… that were it to be losing money going into 2017 we’d have to consider its future very carefully".
Commenting on the closure of the newspaper, Ben Bird, director and media industry specialist at supply chain firm Vendigital, said: "New Day was a bold, print-only experiment for Trinity Mirror and its decision to close the newspaper quickly is not surprising. While some national newspapers are adopting a digital-first content model, and others are going digital-only, the fast-pace of change in the media marketplace, which has been hit by falling sales and ad revenues, requires agile thinking."