The publisher of the Irish Daily Mail will next week launch a new mobile-friendly news site under the name Extra.
DMG Media Ireland quietly put Extra.ie online in January and has been building up interest from advertisers ahead of an official launch on February 17th.
Extra, which features news, sport, business and entertainment articles produced by DMG’s journalists in Ireland, follows the launch three years ago of the showbiz and lifestyle-focused Evoke.ie.
DMG chief executive Paul Henderson said the company believed it was better to build new digital brands in the Irish market than to try to do an Irish version of MailOnline.
“Nobody will know that this comes from DMG,” he said. “We want to take professional journalism and combine it with our data insights, and do it only for the small screen.”
Most stories on Extra will be told in a snappy 300 words, he added, while not all Irish Daily Mail content will be repurposed for the site. "There are things that will never translate."
Extra will be edited by head of content Garrett Brennan, who previously oversaw Evoke prior to the appointment of Sybil Mulcahy as Evoke editor in September.
Sales targets
Mr Henderson did not share targets for users or advertising sales. “If I say I’m going to bake 10 buns and I only bake nine, people say that’s a disappointing bun-baking quarter.”
The company will promote Extra.ie, which already has a social media presence, with an advertising campaign in March.
Evoke.ie has built up a base of about 750,000 monthly unique users and its readers are “100 per cent female” and loyal to the site, Mr Henderson said, with traffic tending to spike “after wine o’clock” in the evening.
“We call them the Evokians,” he added.
DMG Media Ireland employs 136 people, with about 20 of the editorial staff on its digital desk. The company is part of the Daily Mail & General Trust (DMGT) plc, which is listed on the London Stock Exchange.
