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June 12, 2018

Oban Times goes compact after more than 150 years to be more ‘reader-friendly’ and ‘bold’

By Charlotte Tobitt

A Scottish weekly regional newspaper has changed to a compact format after more than 150 years in broadsheet.

The Oban Times, which now publishes a separate Lochaber Times edition, was established as a broadsheet in the 1860s but it was an end of an era with its last broadsheet version on 31 May.

Last week’s edition, published on 7 June, was the first redesigned for the smaller compact size after research among readers and advertisers found support for the “far more reader-friendly format”.

An editorial in the bumper 80-page first compact edition said: “There are well-known old sayings that the best things come in small packages and that small is beautiful.

“So we are confident regular and – we hope – new readers will like what they see with the completely redesigned Oban Times.”

It added: “A huge amount of work has gone into revamping the newspaper to give it this bold new look, but readers can rest assured all their favourite content is still here.

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“One big difference from going compact is that we now have built-in flexibility that will allow us even more space to cover all the local news, sport, business, entertainment and features that make The Oban Times unique.”

The Wyvex Media-owned newspaper will continue to publish all of its content online behind a full paywall.

The first compact edition of the Oban Times on 7 June.

The last broadsheet edition of the Oban Times on 31 May.

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