How the Sunday tabloids line up

 

So after a week of frenzied anticipation ... this is what we will have at the popular end of the news-stands. The much awaited Sun on Sunday is definitely The Sun and not a resurrected News of the World. It is the same titlepiece, with the word Sunday downplayed, typography, design and tone. Tomorrow's paper splashes with an Amanda Holden interview. I had hoped for an earth-shattering newsy exclusive but showbiz is the frontline for the tabloids these days. Is it really a new story though? The 'I almost died' headlines were kicking around two weeks ago. I appreciate the whole interview will be fresh but that's more of a blurb than a splash. I did wonder whether this was a decoy, and the real splash would be unleashed after first edition, but the second edition is unchanged. Football and popular celebrity is the SoS's chosen route. It's a safe and well-trodden path - and it will sell. Maybe newsier, hard-edged investigations will emerge in the next few weeks, but it seems clear that this is to be a seven-day newspaper and not a radically different Sunday title.   

The Mirror has the same showbiz/football mix ... and I am told by those who know that the reconstructed Kerry Katona is as much of a draw as Amanda Holden these days. Good teasers. Harry is a bit of a coup and the Si Cowell question is a classic blurb. You have to buy the paper to find out the answer. The Mirror has reduced its cover price to 50p - but only in some regions which is a fascinating marketing strategy. In Newcastle you can get the real Sunday Sun, the regional newspaper for the North-East, and Sunday Mirror for a £1.30 deal.

The Daily Star Sunday, not a paper I would normally pick up, has made a good fist of squaring up to the new Sun. It's selling on the fact that it's 50p. Add a free pint for every reader, a mega football magazine, a girl in a bikini and what, on the face of it, is a fairly decent Royal exclusive and you have a popular mix. That said, the Mail ran a similar tale back in 2010. We're No 1 For All The News Of Your World is a cheeky little slogan. They have also signed up Guido Fawkes as a columnist ...

The Mail on Sunday has the first interview with MP Stuart Andrew telling of his alleged headbutting in the Commons by Eric Joyce. This was a cracking tale when it broke ... but I'm not sure about its legs. Still, it has a newsy element and those who fancy a break from blonde female celebrities sharing the coughs and splutters of their private lives may find it more appealing. If not, £5 off at Tesco is always a winner and my youngsters might go for the Frozen Planet poster.  

The Express has a non-showbiz exclusive but this one won't be around when we do the news review of the year. Maybe it's just me but I just don't feel very outraged at all. I am even less bothered that Beatrice and Eugene are getting Range Rovers. The big 30p blurb is a bit of a cheek. It means the Express is 30p cheaper than the Mail. I have long banged on about how 'Free Inside' isn't the best of blurbs. Free? Well we are hardly going to make you pay extra once you have bought the paper. Inside? Where else is it going to be? In our rival's publication? But then there is the free gardening knee mat ...

The People also pushes the price - 50p. It leads on Jimmy Greaves having a stroke, interesting to the likes of me but there can't be many under 30s who even know who he is. Across the top are the bikini pictures of Tulisa, from the same shoot as the Star's. Interesting that they should plug veteran columnist Carole Malone on Page 1. They obviously think she is a better draw that the Sun's Katie Price.  

Thanks to the skymedia-gallery and @hendopolis.

For those of you with nothing better to do with your Sunday, I will post my thoughts on the SoS when it arrives tomorrow.