London's Evening Standard to go weekly after racking up losses

LONDON (Reuters) - London's Evening Standard newspaper, which has been read by the city's inhabitants since it was founded almost 200 years ago, said it plans to switch to a weekly format after its daily print edition ran up heavy losses.

The newspaper's interim chief executive and chairman Paul Kanareck told staff that increased working from home, the introduction of Wi-Fi on transport networks and alternative content for commuters meant the paper had to change too.

"The substantial losses accruing from the current operations are not sustainable," Kanareck said in a memo seen by Reuters.

The newspaper has been a feature of London life since it was launched in 1827 with copies sold - and then handed out for free since 2009 - at railway stations and street corners around the capital, traditionally by vendors crying out "Stannnndard".

It was bought in 2009 by its current owner Evgeny Lebedev, a Russian-British businessman, and his father Alexander Lebedev, a former Russian KGB spy. Former British finance minister George Osborne edited the newspaper between 2017 and 2020.

Kanareck said the newspaper planned to shift to its weekly version later this year alongside its 24/7 digital output. It might keep its ES Magazine although it could be published less frequently than its current weekly schedule, he said.

The newspaper's sister title, The Independent, had seen growth in readership and sales after it was turned into a digital-only operation in 2016, the memo said.

(Writing by William Schomberg; editing by Jonathan Oatis)