Montreal La Presse says it will end the weekday printing of its daily newspaper in the new year, nearly three years after introducing its free digital tablet edition.
The print edition of the French-language paper will only be available on Saturdays after Jan. 1, the newspaper said Wednesday.
La Presse president and publisher Guy Crevier says that 30 months after the launch of La Presse Plus, the digital edition is more successful than the 131-year-old print edition.
He says more than 460,000 people read the digital paper weekly. Crevier says it's also a big success with advertisers.
La Presse is owned by Power Corp. (TSX:POW).
Crevier says readers spend an average of 40 minutes reading the app on weekdays and one hour on Saturdays. Sixty-three per cent of its readers are aged 25 to 54.
The decision to end the weekday paper comes a day after the Toronto Star launched its own free digital tablet with the help of La Presse.
Torstar and the parent company of La Presse hold investments in The Canadian Press as part of a joint agreement with a subsidiary of the Globe and Mail.
