Метро: крупнейшая бесплатная газета Великобритании

British tabloid newspaper

Metro is the United Kingdom's highest circulation freesheet tabloid newspaper. It is published in tabloid format by DMG Media. The newspaper is distributed from Monday to Friday (excluding public holidays and the period between Christmas Eve and New Year's Day inclusive) mornings on public places in areas of England, Wales and Scotland. Copies are also handed out to pedestrians. Metro is owned by Daily Mail and General Trust plc (DMGT), part of the same media group as the Daily Mail and The Mail on Sunday, but in some areas Metro operates as a franchise with a local newspaper publisher, rather than as a wholly owned concern. While being a sister paper to the conservative Daily Mail, the newspaper has never endorsed any political party or candidate, and says it takes a neutral political stance in its reporting. There were also reports in the late 1990s that both Metro International and Rupert Murdoch's News International were considering launching free newspapers in the UK that might prove a commercial threat to DMGT's businesses. DMGT subsequently launched Metro, using the same name as Metro International's publications but with a different logo, on Tuesday 16 March 1999. This UK version of Metro had no relation to Metro International or its sister newspapers in other countries. Metro was launched initially as a London only newspaper with an original print run of 85,000 copies, which were distributed via dedicated bins in London Underground stations. Metros circulation continued to rise in the following years, though readership temporarily dipped after the 7 July 2005 London bombings. There was a 1.8% decline – the equivalent of around 9,000 readers – in copies picked up in the weeks following the attacks due to a reduction in the number of people using London's public transport network, coupled with the temporary closure of some London Underground lines where Metro was distributed. Following several years of expansion, in 2006 the newspaper's production was moved to DMGT's main newspaper offices at Northcliffe House in Kensington, west London. Despite the increase in readership, that same year, management also closed five regional Metro offices in Manchester, Glasgow, Newcastle, Birmingham, and Bristol, which were responsible for producing regionalised arts, entertainment, and food pages, citing "challenging economic conditions". By 2011, Metros distribution network had expanded to more than 50 cities in the UK. In that year media commentator Roy Greenslade said the publication was now making "bumper profits" and – mistakenly, as it is not national – dubbed it "Britain's most successful national newspaper".

Metro Ireland was launched in Dublin on 10 October 2005. It followed a legal battle over the title's name with the publishers of the Irish Independent and Dublin's Evening Herald, which launched its free newspaper called Herald AM. Both titles were loss making, despite having a combined circulation of 145,000 in the Greater Dublin Area. On 2 July 2009, it was announced that the two freesheets would merge under the Metro banner, an operation completed by 2010. However, the Irish edition was closed down in December 2014.

For the first time in its history, Metro temporarily published seven days a week during the 2012 Summer Olympics and the 2012 Summer Paralympics, providing free copies to spectators at the Games as well as the general public. The newspaper struck a reported £2.25 million deal with sportswear manufacturer Adidas to run cover wrap adverts on each of the 17 days of the Olympics.

After more than a decade in charge, editor Kenny Campbell was replaced as editor by Ted Young in 2014. Young's appointment coincided with several changes at the newspaper, including the separation of the print and online editions, along with an expansion of Metros distribution in the UK. In November 2016, comedian Richard Herring stepped down from writing his weekly column for Metro. Fellow TV comedian Dom Joly later replaced him in the slot. In 2017, Metro became the most read newspaper in the UK, according to monthly National Readership Survey figures. In March 2018, Metro officially overtook The Sun in total print circulation, according to ABC (Audit Bureau of Circulations (UK)) figures. The news section also features occasional feature columns from political pundits such as Sophy Ridge of Sky News. However, while offering analysis, these columns do not typically express endorsements of political positions or candidates, thus not being considered as op ed columns as in other newspapers. The features section contains a mix of articles on travel, homes, style, health and science, as well as arts coverage and entertainment listings. The puzzles page currently features a crossword and Sudoku.

Metro launched a website version of the newspaper in July 2001. Between 2001 and 2014 most print edition articles were published on this website, along with additional online only content such as blogs and opinion columns. In 2014 production of the newspaper and the website were separated. As a result, from 2014 Metro newspaper and Metro Online were produced by separate organisations and written independently by different editorial teams while remaining part of the same parent company. Deborah Arthurs was appointed Editor of Metro. co. uk in 2014, following her time as Femail Editor for MailOnline. In February 2021, the newspaper's separate website metro. news was abolished and merged back with metro. co. uk. Separate editorial teams continue to produce content for the website and print editions.

Metro has faced competition in parts of the UK from other free newspapers, along with rivalry from paid for national titles. Former editor Ted Young used to say that his 'mantra' was to produce a newspaper that its readers would be willing to pay for. In 2005, Rupert Murdoch said he was worried by competition from Metro and that it had damaged the circulation of his newspaper the Sun. He told a press conference he was watching the free newspaper market "keenly and apprehensively". Murdoch's News International subsequently launched a London based evening freesheet in 2006 called The London Paper. This was closed on 18 September 2009. London Lite was another free evening newspaper published in London. It operated only from 2006 to 2009; it was owned by the same parent company as Metro, and was seen as a "spoiler" to protect against the commercial threat from The London Paper. Another rival is the London Evening Standard, which became a freesheet in 2009, though unlike Metro it is only published in the London region.

Metro launched two new mobile app products in 2016: 11versus11, which is a football news app, and Guilty Pleasures, a celebrity news app. Both apps offer personalised content based on a user's interest profile.

In the run up to the 2015 United Kingdom general election, the then UK Independence Party leader Nigel Farage refused to be interviewed by Metro, accusing them of bias against his party. This was denied by the newspaper's editor. All other national party leaders agreed to be interviewed, including Conservative prime minister David Cameron and Labour leader Ed Miliband. Concerns were subsequently raised over why the Democratic Unionist Party placed an advert in Metro because the newspaper does not publish in Northern Ireland. In May 2019, the paper was condemned by the National Union of Journalists and the Public and Commercial Services Union, after an internal document leaked to The Guardian showed evidence that Amber Rudd, Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, had authorised the use of at least £250,000 of public money for a ten week run of advertorials to be placed in Metro newspapers to "challenge the myths" around the government's controversial Universal Credit programme. The Trussell Trust also ran a counter campaign called "Universal Credit Uncovered". In June 2019, the Daily Mirror reported that 80 UK charities had filed a complaint to the Advertising Standards Authority over "misleading Universal Credit adverts in Metro". In July 2019, the Advertising Standards Authority announced it was launching an investigation into the DWP ads. The move came after the Morning Star said that the Metro had not run the controversial ads in its 3 July 2019 print edition. On 5 November 2019, the Advertising Standards Authority ruled that the campaign was misleading, branding the ads "exaggerated" and in some cases "unsubstantiated". The Advertising Standards Authority upheld three complaint points whilst partially upholding a fourth.