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The Sun no longer a sizzler

Posted in Media, Branwell Johnson, Latest reporters' blogs January 11th, 2008 by Branwell Johnson

So the sun is setting on the great British tabloid – or so it would seem with The Sun dipping below the psychologically important 3 million mark for the first time.

That fantastically colourful mix of clever headlines, short, snappy and occasionally saucy stories and  a ribald sense of humour that has previously characterised all the nation’s red top offerings no longer seems to be proving attractive.

Despite painful contortions, such as the Daily Mirror’s attempt to go “serious” under Piers Morgan, the old formula just isn’t working. Even the hot pursuit of celeb gossip and tittle tattle has failed.

The tabloids have come under pressure from the internet gossip sites, which can be quicker and take more risks, and the lads’ weekly titles, that serve up more raunch and page three style shenanigans than The Sun can. And Murdoch senior seems less interested in the News International newspaper empire now he has Dow Jones and the Wall Street Journal to play with.

Of course, the popular tabloids still sold nearly six million copies combined in December, traditionally a weak month. But the figure is unlikely to ever go above six million. What to do?

News International is pursuing the right strategy under head honcho Mike Anderson in stretching the brand to deliver content via the web, mobile and other new media formats. Arguably more people may be seeing Sun content via these methods than the traditional paper shortly. But will delivery via handheld devices or the PC create the same value to advertisers and have the same impact as a display ad in a mass market, mass circulation paper publication?

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