LONDON – News Corp.'s (NWS) London-based newspaper The Times announced Friday it will launch a U.S. edition next month as part of a push to make the paper an international brand.
The U.S. edition will go on sale on June 6 via subscription and at more than 2,000 retail outlets across New York and New Jersey.
"This is a key moment in the development of The Times as an international media brand," said The Times Editor Robert Thomson, who helped orchestrate a major U.S. expansion of the Financial Times when he worked at the Pearson PLC-owned paper.
"We have seen a large increase in our Times Online readership in the U.S. and the appearance of the newspaper on the streets of New York marks the next stage in our print and Web expansion," Thomson added.
The Times of London is the fifth-biggest paper in Britain, but considered the second-largest serious newspaper behind its archrival the Telegraph, which is owned by the reclusive Barclay brothers.
The crowded British newspaper market has struggled in recent years to combat declining circulation and competition for advertising from the Internet. The Times was one of several papers to move to a smaller compact format last year in an attempt to appeal to younger readers.
The U.S. edition will also be printed in a smaller tabloid-style format. The newspaper will be printed at News Corp.'s New York Post presses and will be edited by John Mair, editor of the International edition.
(The New York Post and FOX News, which operates FOXNews.com, are divisions of News Corp.)
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