Newspapers are printed in a variety of sizes with the most common sizes being Broadsheet, Berliner, Tabloid & Compact.
Broadsheet Size:
Dimensions: 750 x 600 mm (29.5" x 23.5")
Background:
The term broadsheet derives from single sheets of political satire and ballads sold on the streets, which became popular after the British placed a tax on newspapers by the number of pages in 1712.
The broadsheet size for newspapers is becoming less popular and many titles are switching from broadsheet to tabloid.
In Australia and New Zealand the term broadsheet is used to refer to papers that are printed on A1 size paper (841 x 594 mm - 33.1" x 23.4").
Berliner:
Dimensions: 470 mm × 315 mm (18.5" × 12.4")
Background:
The Berliner format (also known as Midi) is commonly used by newspapers across Europe. Confusingly the title 'Berliner Zeitung', often referred to as just 'Berliner' is not printed in berliner size.
Tabloid Size:
Dimensions: 430 x 280 mm (16.9" x 11.0")
The tabloid size is often referred to as being 'half the size of a broadsheet' however this is not strictly true as broadsheet is 750 x 600 mm (29.5" x 23.5")
Tabloid size is actually not very different from A3 and thus a transition to printing tabloids on an A2 sheet (remember that newspaper sizes are the size of the folded pages) would be sensible in the longer term.
Background:
The word tabloid when referring to newspaper sizes comes from the style of journalism known as 'tabloid journalism' that compacted stories into short, easy to read and often exaggerated forms. Tabloid journalism itself got its name from the 'tabloid pills' marketed in the 1880's, that were the first highly compacted and easy to swallow pills commonly available.
The tabloid size is widely used across the globe these days, with titles in the US, Russia, China, the UK, Canada, Australia, Brazil and many other countries using this format. Recently many established papers have changed from broadsheet size to tabloid size as it has proved more popular with readers.
Compact Size:
This size is the same as tabloid. The term being coined when the 'quality' or 'high brow' press titles moved from the traditional broadsheet size to the smaller tabloid size, as they didn't want to be associated with the sensationalism of tabloid journalism.
