The London Times has moved to abolish, after 216 years, its traditional broadsheet format, in a move seen as a landmark development in the UK market.
From yesterday, the London Times, owned by News International Ltd, can only be purchased in "compact" format.
The paper claims strong reader demand for the "compact" has made the decision necessary. The editor, Mr Robert Thomson, said the compact was a very effective way to attract new readers.
Earlier this year, the London Independent also went entirely tabloid. Its move has resulted in strong sales growth, mainly at the expense of the Guardian newspaper, which is also planning to move to a smaller A3 - or Berliner - format.
Here, the Irish Independent will continue publishing "compact" - or tabloid - and broadsheet formats of the paper, according to a spokesman for Independent News & Media yesterday.
Prof John Horgan, of the School of Communications at DCU, said there was less pressure on Irish newspapers to switch to a compact format. "Newspaper circulations are not under as much pressure in Ireland as they are in Britain," he said.
He said it was not practical to publish two formats of the Irish Independent "indefintely". However, he said it would be relatively easy for the company to test out a compact-only offering, possibly in one region first.
He said a long-term concern would be the damage a compact-only Irish Independent might do to sales of the Evening Herald. "There might be a danger of cannibalisation," he said.
Mr Neil Clifford, a media analyst with Goodbody Stockbrokers, said a fine judgment call would have to be made in the years ahead.
He said the broadsheet Irish Independent was selling 129,035, including bulks, while the "compact" was selling 52,045, including bulks.
"To me the introduction was a defensive move ... It particularly helps to offset any future challenge from a Daily Mail product in Ireland, which would be in a tabloid format," he said.
