The National, the newly-launched Scottish daily targeting pro-independence supporters, is doubling its print run after selling out its first day print run of 60,000.
Newsquest’s new tabloid, which runs with the banner “The newspaper that supports an independent Scotland”, launched on Monday, priced at 50p. It is understood that about 10,000 digital subscriptions priced at £1.50 for a week have also been sold.
The print run has now been increased to as much as 100,000 to match reader demand for the title.
The National, which has been launched by Newsquest’s Glasgow-based Herald and Times group, is being run as a five-day pilot to gauge whether the 32-page title could be commercially viable.
Richard Walker, the Sunday Herald editor who is also in charge of the National, said the original launch-day plan had been to print 30,000 copies.
“We decided almost as we pressed the button [on the launch] to double that – in hindsight, a good decision,” he told MediaGuardian on Tuesday morning. “It is really gratifying that so many people responded to it even before they had seen it. We were getting digital subscriptions at a rate of about 20 a minute over the weekend, before the paper had even come out.”
Walker said the demand was causing production issues. The title is being put out on a tight budget with limited staff and he was looking to bring in more journalists urgently.
“The first issues are good, but we need to make them great and tame the beast of production,” he said. “We started with a small number of people for a week’s pilot, now we are trying to get the resource to match [demand]. I’m happy with the way it is going but we need to get more people in, be a little less frantic. Once the terror subsides, we’ll enjoy it.”
Newsquest will make a decision later this week as to whether to continue to print the National. Walker said he is “confident in the product” but that the decision would not taken by him.
The National’s main Scottish competition
The Herald – Newsquest
Average daily circulation for the first half of 2014 (source: Audit Bureau of Circulations): 37,728
Weekday price: £1.20
The Scotsman – Johnston Press
Circulation: 27,208
Price: £1.30
Aberdeen Press & Journal – DC Thomson
Circulation: 62,177
Price: 70p
Dundee Courier & Advertiser – DC Thomson
Circulation: 48,955
Price: 70p
Daily Record – Trinity Mirror
Average daily circulation in October: 204,214
Price: 55p
Scottish Sun – News UK
Average daily circulation in October: 233,026
Price: 40p
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