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Mike Anderson, a former MD of The Sun, reflects on Rupert Murdoch's idea of Sun on Sunday

By Gordon Young, Editor

February 17, 2012 | 3 min read

As a former managing director of the The Sun and News of the World, Mike Anderson, founder of the Chelsea App factory has been watching today’s development at Wapping with considerable interest.

Mike Anderson

The company he left in 2009 may be in distress. But he welcomes the news that the only SoS it has emitted is news of The Sun on Sunday.

The announcement was made as Rupert Murdoch arrived in London to take charge of the embattled company and confound rumours that, far from planning to expand his newspaper business, he was aiming to shut The Sun itself.

Said Anderson, “This is classic Rupert. Everybody was telling him not to do this. Even his own company and he decided to swim against the tide and do it anyway.

“It is good to see them on the front foot. It is also one in the eye for his critics. He would have been thinking that they stopped the Sky deal, even forced the closure of part of his business, but they cannot prevent him from doing this.

“Of course it is a hell of a risky strategy. If this paper does not do 2.5m copies it will be deemed a failure. That is a big ask. How many other Sundays out sell their mid-week counterparts? Will former NoW readers really come back from other newspapers?

“And what will the advertisers think? It was always a challenge getting them to advertise on a Sunday never mind in the News of the World.

“But this news made me smile. It is good to see the newspaper industry with something positive to say. These are exciting times for the business – he really is a great guy.”

It was announced this morning that The Sun on Sunday will launch on 26 February.

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