Belgium's widely read free newspaper, Metro, is bidding farewell. The Rossel media group, the newspaper's owner, announced on Monday that it will release its last edition on Friday.
While the website will remain active until January 15, 2024, the printed newspaper is coming to an end.
Metro, known for its blend of news and entertainment, primarily catered to a young urban audience. With 770,520 unique daily readers, it held the distinction of being the largest free national newspaper in Belgium. Unfortunately, it was no longer financially sustainable, according to Rossel.
The media group endured substantial challenges during the COVID-19 crisis. Lockdowns and the transition to teleworking had a lasting impact on Metro's economic model. The free newspaper relied on advertising revenues, which consistently fell short of sustaining its operations.
With no viable alternatives, the media group attempted to tackle its financial woes by reducing the paper's daily publication to three times a week last year. However, it has now become evident that discontinuing the paper is the only solution.
Metro, published daily in Dutch and French, has been a fixture in the hands of public transport users since 2000. The newspaper also had a dedicated presence on university campuses and in various companies, becoming a part of daily life. In late 2020, Rossel became the sole shareholder after Mediahuis divested its shares.
Furthermore, Zita.be, an online lifestyle news magazine, will also cease its operations. This Dutch-language website, catering mainly to an audience over 45, boasted around 1,194,500 unique monthly visitors. The media group plans to reassign Metro's employees to other divisions within the group whenever possible.
Groupe Rossel stands as a prominent media group in Brussels and Wallonia, the French-speaking region of Belgium. Their flagship publication, the daily newspaper Le Soir, is a prominent and successful title. SudPresse, their subsidiary, publishes daily newspapers like La Capitale and La Meuse, further highlighting their influence in the Belgian media landscape. Photo by RavikaChand, Wikimedia commons.