Guardian boosts Saturday edition

The Guardian is to boost its Saturday package with the addition of news round-up supplement, The Editor, and a revamped Weekend magazine, to attract more readers.

The move follows research conducted by Guardian Newspapers into weekday and weekend readership, which the group claims shows potential for growth on a Saturday – the best-selling day for The Guardian.

The newspaper’s magazine, Weekend, will become a glossy with the average number of editorial pages increased by more than 60 per cent.

Space, the London-only interiors magazine which appears with The Guardian on a Thursday, will be incorporated as a section within Weekend, covering homes, interiors, gardens and property on a national basis.

Weekend will also include supplements on beauty, fitness, well being and relationships, in addition to the usual editorial mix of investigative and general features, profiles, lifestyle and fashion.

The weekly news round-up supplement, The Editor, also moves to a Saturday from a Friday.

Guardian Newspapers marketing director Marc Sands, says: “People have more time on Saturdays to digest many elements of The Guardian, hence our strategy to invest in Weekend and move The Editor to Saturdays, when readers have more time to enjoy it.”

The changes, which come into effect on April 21, will be supported by a TV ad campaign through The Guardian’s creative agency BMP DDB. Advertising for The Guardian will now focus on the Saturday newspaper unless there is an editorial reason to promote a particular day of the week.