New sites confirmed will be NorthantsLive, HampshireLive and SussexLive. The first site to market will be NorthantsLive on 4 June.
Preparations for the launch of the new sites began ahead of lockdown, as part of Reach’s strategy to build upon the publisher’s existing audiences in a number of areas around the UK, say the publishers.
These three additional sites join 13 news brands added to the live network in the past year – YorkshireLive, AyrshireLive, ChesterfieldLive, Cork Beo, SunderlandLive, County DurhamLive, Newport Online, MyBolton, MyBury, MySalford, TorbayLive, ExeterLive, MansfieldLive, TruroLive and HertsLive.
Reach has already added a WorcestershireLive brand and a CumbriaLive brand during lockdown, both of which sit within existing sites.
The ‘Live’ brand, now used across the majority of the Reach regional network, was first used in 2015 with the creation BelfastLive, a site which Reach says has a 1.3m monthly reach and which has experienced growth of 127% YoY.
Other launches followed, including MyLondon (monthly reach 5.6M), which started in December 2018 and is experiencing monthly growth of 321% YoY, as well as Leeds Live (1.2M monthly reach), which is experiencing monthly growth of 152% YoY, according to Reach.
Alan Edmunds, Managing Director for Regionals at Reach plc, added: “We are building on the success of the live brand which is now five years old, reaching even more communities across the country. We have a strong track record of delivering trusted journalism to new online audiences and it’s exciting that Reach is making further investment in local news.”
