One in five European newspapers is free of charge

This is mainly due to the international evolution of such publications. Currently, cost-free press has an eight percent global daily newspaper market share and a 21 percent share on the European market. The expansion of free newspapers will continue globally for at least 10 more years, according to specialists in the field.

In Europe, there are some 130 cost-free publications, translating to one in five, with over 25 million copies distributed daily. One in 20 Europeans reads such a newspaper on the way to work.

In Romania, media groups are showing increasing interest in adding cost-free publications to their portfolio. Thus, in 2006, the Ringier Romania media group launched the Compact daily, exclusively dedicated to Bucharest residents. As of 2005, Arad and Timisoara had free dailies, the Arad Expres and Timis Expres, also published by Inform Media. The publisher of Curentul, Dramiral Media Group, forewent its cover price at the beginning of 2007, and is now distributing this daily free of charge in Bucharest and Cluj.

The Compact daily ranks second in Bucharest in terms of number of readers per issue, with an average of 272,000 readers, according to the Romania’s Study on National Audiences.

Swiss publisher Ringier gained new ground, according to Lucian Romascanu, Executive Manager of Ringier Romania’s Free Publications Division. The readers of Compact are young and interested in all things new, taking advantage of time spent in public transportation to keep informed.

The cost-free publication phenomenon began in 1995 in Sweden, when the Metro daily appeared. This daily newspaper is now the most impressive free publication worldwide. Witin a very short time, Metro International built up an empire, publishing over 70 editions in 23 countries and 19 languages, with a daily audience of 23 million. While the Swedish edition proved profitable shortly after its release, editions in Argentina, Switzerland and Poland closed due to losses.