Rupert Murdoch’s London-based newspaper The Times announced on Friday it will launch a United States edition next month as part of a push to make the paper an international brand.
The US edition will go on sale on 6 June via subscription and at more than 2 000 retail outlets across New York and New Jersey.
”This is a key moment in the development of The Times as an international media brand,” said the paper’s editor Robert Thomson, who helped orchestrate a major US expansion of the Financial Times when he worked at the Pearson PLC-owned paper.
”We have seen a large increase in our Times Online readership in the US and the appearance of the newspaper on the streets of New York marks the next stage in our print and web expansion,” Thomson added.
The Times of London is the second-best selling ”quality” newspaper in Britain behind its archrival the Telegraph, which is owned by the reclusive Barclay brothers.
The crowded British newspaper market has struggled in recent years to combat declining circulation and competition for advertising from the internet. The Times was one of several papers to move to a smaller compact format last year in an attempt to appeal to younger readers.
The US edition will also be printed in a smaller tabloid-style format. The newspaper will be printed at the Murdoch’s New York Post presses and will be edited by John Mair, editor of the international edition. – Sapa-AP