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

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.

“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.