Media buyers attack the new Indy

Media buyers have slammed the comprehensive redesign of The Independent on Sunday, arguing that its new compact look is at odds with Sunday reading habits.

The redesign, launched this week, will convert the Independent on Sunday’s various pullouts and magazines into a single newspaper and magazine offering.

Editor Tristan Davies says the new-look paper “offers everything you need in two manageable sections, with nothing squeezed out”.

Media buyers, however, disagree. One says/ “The difficulty with this redesign is that the Sunday read is a shared read. And with this new format there will be no sharing of the different sections of the paper.”

Another buyer adds: “It could be argued that it is doing nothing more than copy The Guardian with having advertising only on the back page.”

Others buyers have welcomed the paper’s attempt to differ from its Sunday quality rivals, adding that its comparatively low circulation allows it to take the gamble. “Some people will view this as the paper’s last role of the dice,” one adds.

Davies says that the new-look paper is a response to those readers who feel guilty at throwing away large sections of their Sunday paper.

Changes include the axing of ABC, the paper’s book and culture supplement, with some of its content moved into its new Review magazine. Its back page will be devoted to advertising.

The Independent on Sunday witnessed a sales rise of 25,000 in April from March to 244,809, according to the latest Audit Bureau of Circulations (ABC) statistics. But it fell by 5.25%year on year.