A new “national newspaper for the North” is to close little over a month after launch.
CN Group, the publisher behind the News & Star and The Cumberland News, launched 24 on June 20th with an ambition to target “disenfranchised readers” of the London-centric nationals.
The 40-page tabloid was distributed from Preston in the South to Lockerbie in the North and then across the span of the country from Hexham to Workington.
One of the few editions of 24
But the publisher has now admitted that the title, which relied almost entirely on Press Association content, has no future.
The last edition will be on Friday July 29th. No jobs will be lost.
CN editorial director David Heliwell said: “We were proud of the design and content and had encouraging feedback and buy-in from advertisers but unfortunately copy sales are just not high enough to justify continuing daily publication.
“It was always a calculated risk to see whether there was enough of a gap for us to squeeze into beside the big beasts of the daily market and it hasn’t come off.
“We launched quickly, failed quickly and learned an awful lot along the way. We’re obviously disappointed it didn’t work out but it hasn’t diminished our appetite for trying new publications, be they print or digital.
“The closure in no way reflects on the dedicated efforts of the small editorial team who produced 24 on a daily basis to a high standard.
“I’d also like to thank PA for their considerable support in this venture. It was their wealth of content that allowed us to even think of launching 24 and it’s been a pleasure working with them.”
24’s decline is even swifter than Trinity Mirror’s own print experiment, New Day, which closed in May after just nine weeks in operation.
