Desmond Cuts Price Of Express Titles

Richard Desmond is cutting the price of his Express titles and is launching a TV advertising campaign in an attempt to halt declining sales.

The promotion begins tomorrow with the cover price of the Saturday Express reduced from 50p to 25p and the Sunday Express cut from £1 to 50p. From Monday, the Daily Express will be priced at 20p, a 15p reduction from its current 35p cover price, which is already 5p below its mid-market rival the Daily Mail.

The promotion, which is thought to be part of a long-term strategy, will be limited to the Carlton TV area and will be accompanied by £1.5m TV advertising campaign.

According to monthly ABC figures, the Daily Express has seen circulation decline by 2.8% over the last year, with circulation for February standing at 924,174. In comparison, the Daily Mail saw circulation rise by 0.4% year on year during February, with circulation now resting at 2,402,776.

The pattern is the same for the Sunday titles, with circulation of the Sunday Express falling by 5.7% between February 2001 and February 2002, whilst circualtion of the Mail On Sunday increased by 1.7% during the same period.

Express Newspapers: 020 7928 8000 www.express.co.uk

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