Daily and Sunday Sport owners to enter administration

Saturday, April 2, 2011

Britain's tabloid Daily Sport newspaper and its sister title, the more commonly known Sunday Sport, have ceased publication in the UK effective yesterday. Owners Sport Media Group (SMG) made the announcement the paper was ceasing operations immediately, following warnings back in December 2010 they had experienced "an insufficient recovery".

Rescued from collapse by former owner David Sullivan in 2009, The Daily Sport, first published in 1991, followed on from the Sunday Sport, first published in 1986, which became known for its use of unbelievable and most often untrue headlines, and the more-than-gratuitous use of Page 3 girls throughout the newspaper.

If the publications close entirely it will be the first loss of national newspapers in the UK since the disappearance in November 1995 of Today owned by News International.

Previous editors of the newspapers include BBC Radio 5 Live presenter Tony Livesey, and it was while he was editor that the reputation for the utterly bizarre making it to the front page was earned. With headlines claiming such strange things as a London bus being found in Antarctica and a World War II bomber being found on the moon, for most of their existence, the Daily Sport and the Sunday Sport were not seen as particularly reliable news outlets.

At their peaks, both papers barely passed circulation of 190,000 per issue. The titles were withdrawn from media audits in 2009 following a disastrous drop in sales.

In a press release on their website, Sport Media Group says the closure is due to an "inability to meet certain creditors as they fall due". Trading in SMG shares was suspended yesterday morning pending clarification of their financial position. "The company is in the process of appointing administrators and will update the market once an appointment has been confirmed," they stated.

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Sources

"Daily Sport and Sunday Sport owner in administration" — BBC News Online, April 1, 2011
"Britain bids goodbye to Daily Sport" — Metro.co.uk, April 1, 2011

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