The Demise of Automotive print media

Something related regarding printed media. 

Next month I’ll have a table at the Orlando Zine Fest. I’ll also be staffing a “make a zine” table.

I’ll very likely be the oldest person in the room. 

Hearst Media buys Motor Trend.

It hasn’t been a huge secret that MotorTrend, the popular magazine and website, was in the process of being offloaded. Who would buy such a publication? It turns out the answer is Hearst Magazines, the same company that owns Car And Driver, Road & Track, Autoweek, and BringATrailer. As MotorTrend also owns the zombie Automobile magazine and Hot Rod, this means that one company will own all of America’s traditional buff books.

Man... Guys like David E. Davis and Brock Yates would be rolling in their graves if they could see what's become of their industry. 

they can sell a lot more ads when they can bundle all the magazines together , 

Thats what McMullen / Yee did  with Street Rodder and all the other titles they published including "All about Beer" magazine !

In reply to Tom_Spangler (Forum Supporter) :

Yeah, we saw the news as well. 

So is GRM just waiting for a buyout call from Hearst now? I look forward to seeing how fast the new Toyota Sienna laps the FIRM!

It will be interesting to see what Hearst does with what's left of Motor Trend...any guesses on whether they'll revive some of the TV shows?

There are still enthusiast out there that keep some of the best titles going; Motosport & GRM come to mind but there are 3 or 4 others as well.

I was just cleaning out a filing cabinet from my old desk, and pulled out a 1998 Sport Compact Car. It was massive! I should have done a page count, but I'll bet at least 300. The Miata article was on p178 and felt like it was halfway through. 

brandonsmash said:

So is GRM just waiting for a buyout call from Hearst now? I look forward to seeing how fast the new Toyota Sienna laps the FIRM!

Nah, if anything this is just more proof that there's a place in the world for GRM. Our advantage has always been that we don't chase the watered-down, million-reader print audience that conglomerates seem to need to make the math work. We're laser focused on our niche, and that focus has kept us steady during many, many paradigm shifts in the industry, from competing magazines to social media advertisement price dumping and data harvesting to changing consumer patterns to whatever happened with the rise and fall of Motortrend On Demand. This is just another one for the pile, and we're staying focused on our niches. 

In reply to Tom Suddard :

>the rise and fall of Motortrend on Demand

MToD was a dumpster full of flammables and MT/Hearst could not help themselves from setting it on fire. I subscribed to MT for years but they kept making absolutely stupid decisions (axing popular shows, removing support from their own Android app, switching to Discovery's platform). They kept crippling their own product and then acted all surprised and sorrowful when the whole project failed. "Oh now, how could we have ever predicted this entirely predictable outcome that was wholly the product of our own doing?"

I canceled my subscription at the beginning of the fall and feel vindicated. 

Assclowns. I really liked their product for a while and was happy to pay for it, too, even after the "We're never leaving YouTube" thing.

I recieved the latest issue of Classic Motorsports a couple of days ago and as I perused it, thought "Now this is a damn good magazine".

Tom Suddard said:

brandonsmash said:

So is GRM just waiting for a buyout call from Hearst now? I look forward to seeing how fast the new Toyota Sienna laps the FIRM!

Nah, if anything this is just more proof that there's a place in the world for GRM. Our advantage has always been that we don't chase the watered-down, million-reader print audience that conglomerates seem to need to make the math work. We're laser focused on our niche, and that focus has kept us steady during many, many paradigm shifts in the industry, from competing magazines to social media advertisement price dumping and data harvesting to changing consumer patterns to whatever happened with the rise and fall of Motortrend On Demand. This is just another one for the pile, and we're staying focused on our niches. 

We are in good hands.