Metro is a free daily newspaper in Sweden. It is printed in four editions: Stockholm, Gothenburg, Skåne and National, which is distributed in 67 towns and cities throughout the country. The paper is the first European free paper.
Contents
History and profile
Metro Stockholm was the first version. The paper was launched on 13 February 1995 and distributed in the Stockholm Metro. Its owner and founding company is Modern Times Group (MTG), a subsidiary of the Swedish conglomerate Kinnevik. The paper is published in tabloid format by Metro International.
For a long time, Metro was the sole free newspaper available in the different metropolitan areas. In 2002, the Bonnier group launched Stockholm City in the Stockholm region. City expanded into Gothenburg and Malmö in September 2006 and was followed a few weeks later by the Schibsted-backed Punkt SE in all three cities. City Göteborg was closed down in late 2007. In May 2008 Metro had reached an agreement with Schibsted that meant that Punkt SE would be closed down and Schibsted would buy a 35 percent share of Metro Sweden.
In the period of 2001-2002 Metro had a circulation of 384,000 copies.
Comics
Both the current featured comic strip Elvis, by Tony Cronstam, and the earlier Rocky, by Martin Kellerman, were first published in Metro Stockholm.