Herald on Sunday to launch on October 3 in compact format

10.45am - Announcement from APN News & Media

APN News & Media, publisher of the New Zealand Herald, today announced the launch date and format of its new Auckland Sunday newspaper, the Herald on Sunday.

At a breakfast launch to media and the advertising industry in Auckland, APN NZ National Publishing Chief Executive Ken Steinke announced October 3 as the launch date for the new newspaper, which will be in "compact" format.

APN announced plans for the new publication on July 30 this year.

Mr Steinke said the decision to go "compact" rather than the traditional broadsheet was driven by strong consumer demand, and the international trend of large format, quality newspapers moving to a more convenient, user-friendly size.

"Our market research showed a strong reader preference on Sundays for a compact sized paper, which maintained the high editorial standards of the Herald. Readers enjoy our Weekend Herald in its current broadsheet format, but indicated a wish for something different on Sundays."

Mr Steinke pointed to a number of highly-respected overseas newspapers which had converted to compact, including the Independent and the Times of London.

"We will be bringing New Zealanders the first example of this international newspaper trend, driven by reader and advertiser demands."

Mr Steinke said the Sunday newspaper market was under-developed in New Zealand, and Sunday shopping was rapidly expanding. Readers and advertisers were seeking a publication to fulfill their consumer needs on a Sunday.

"Statistics indicate that while 60 per cent of Aucklanders read a Saturday paper, only about 30 per cent read a Sunday paper," he said.

At the launch, Herald on Sunday Publisher Rick Neville unveiled the paper's masthead, which is strongly linked to the parent publication, The New Zealand Herald.

"All our research indicated that readers value the heritage and credibility of The New Zealand Herald, the country's largest daily, which has been serving its readership and advertisers well for 140 years," said Mr Neville.

Editor Sue Chetwin said the Herald on Sunday would have a main news and features section as well as a strong sports liftout and two magazines. One would focus on people and lifestyle issues with the other concentrating on entertainment, television and the arts.

Mr Steinke said he was pleased with the high quality of applications for jobs across all departments of the new publication and all key positions had now been filled.

Research among existing subscribers of the Herald showed a strong acceptance of the new publication and details of a subscriber offer would be mailed to all New Zealand Herald subscribers.

"We're looking forward to offering a dynamic new newspaper to the people of Auckland and we have an exciting month ahead of us," Mr Steinke said.