New Straits Times downsizes to tabloid to drive sales

The launch is perceived as a bid to gain ground lost to rival English language tabloid The Star, which has extended a commanding lead to more than double the NST's circulation over the past 10 years.

"This is an attempt to compete for Star readers in the same size they are accustomed to," commented Henry Tan, managing director of MindShare Malaysia. "The younger readers are used to tabloid-sized papers," he added. "It is a recruitment exercise as well."

The NST started printing an additional 50,000 copies of a compact edition of the paper on top of its normal print run for the broadsheet from the beginning of the month. The NST's group editor-in-chief, Kalimullah Hassan, said the paper would decide whether to continue with the broadsheet format in the middle of next year. "It looks like the tabloid is here to stay," he said.

Broadsheet advertisers currently have their ads run for free in the compact edition, though this will be reviewed as circulation increases. The initiative is thought to be the first time an Asian broadsheet has experimented with a smaller format. Noted Steve Garton, media director for research agency, Synovate: "We will see more papers trying this."