The Independent on Sunday announced this morning that it will become the UK's first quality compact Sunday newspaper from Sunday 16 October.

The switch comes more than two years after its weekly sister title The Independent started the quality newspapers trend for all things compact with the launch of its first tabloid edition in September 2003.

Independent News & Media chairman Ivan Fallon said: "In many ways, our latest move is a natural development for the company. We had always intended to turn the Sunday into a compact newspaper, and conditions are now favourable to do so."

The launch next week also means that the paper will steal a march in the Sunday market on arch rival The Observer, which will move to the Berliner format early next year.

Meanwhile, The Daily Telegraph unveiled plans to downsize its sports section to the tabloid format and publish a separate business section.
From Monday the paper will publish a 24-page compact sports section, while editor Martin Newland has said that he also wants to sex-up the newly demerged business pages.

"I want business to read like the sports section, to report deals like you would report a Liverpool versus Chelsea match," he said. "It's a business section with a bit of GQ."

The launch is a u-turn for the Barclay brothers-owned paper, which has repeatedly stated its plans to make a virtue out of maintaining the broadsheet format as its unique selling point.

The 2m investment in the relaunch is also the first response from the title to the recent upheavals in the quality newspaper market.