QUICK AIN’T WHAT IT’S CRACKED UP TO BE

A new study out on free daily papers like Quick has found that the gambit isn’t working for publishers like they hoped it would. They’d hoped to reach new, younger readers. But that’s not necessarily what’s happening:

The main effect has been that heavy newspaper readers simply read more, picking up the freebies in addition to their regular paid dailies.

The report questions whether the investment in these freebies has been worth it. You can bet the folks at Belo are asking themselves that same question. And somewhere, Jeremy Halbreich is still pissed.