PRIMEDIA Inc., the parent publishing company that's responsible for Motor Trend, along with other enthusiast mags like Automobile and Hot Rod, have announced that it's "exploring the sale" of its Enthusiast Media division. While the sale price will probably be more than the going rate for a subscription to MT, one has to wonder if the division isn't being sold because the value of print media is falling faster by the second. The Enthusiast Media division is comprised of 90 websites, however, including Automotive.com (and Equine.com, w00t!), along with over 70 dead tree editions and 65 events, so the next potential owner will have quite the media empire on its hands. Hmm... perhaps AOL, our own corporate media overlord, is looking for another asset to add to the warchest. Could you even imagine, Autoblog and Motor Trend under the same roof? The mind reels. In a somewhat odd aside, the news of PRIMEDIA shedding its Enthusiast Media division comes shortly after it was announced the company was aquiring VerticalScope, Inc., publisher of such titles as Modified, Modified Luxury and Exotics and Modified Mustangs. Being purchased by PRIMEDIA is the holy grail for small, independant publishing houses like VerticalScope. I should know, I used to work for one that competed directly with Modified on the newsstands, but was passed over by the benevolent purchasing power of PRIMEDIA. Congrats to my old nemesis and its producers at VerticalScope, who are likely sipping Pina Coladas on a beach somewhere right about now.
[Source: The Auto Channel, Jalopnik]
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Reader Comments (Page 1 of 2)
SherbornSean @ Feb 10th 2007 10:29AM
Smart move, selling MT while they can still get cash for it. The internet makes these pulp magazines out of date and worthless.
Juan @ Feb 10th 2007 10:37AM
I still read print mags, but admittedly not as thoroughly, or at the second that they reach the mailbox. It's always funny to see them debut cars I saw on Autoblog weeks before :)
Howie @ Feb 10th 2007 11:17AM
MAYBE THE NEW OWNER MIGHT REPORT MORE ON THE DOMESTIC LINES THAN THE CRAPY IMPORTS!
Edsel @ Feb 10th 2007 11:41AM
This is quite the list of published literature PrimMedia has for sale. Most of these publications should be categorized as satire;
http://www.primedia.com/divisions/enthusiastmedia/
I don't see "Guns, Girls & Ammo" on the list.
Aetius @ Feb 10th 2007 12:35PM
For all the high-res pictures and instantly updated news feeds and videos, nothing beats the ability to chill on the couch after a day at Uni/work with a car magazine and drool at the glossy pics of (insert car name here).
AutoFan @ Feb 10th 2007 12:55PM
To all the rejoycing Primedia employees (and I'm positive there are many), be careful what you wish for.
david @ Feb 10th 2007 2:29PM
here's an idea. toyota buys motor trend. then we'll get some good, honest, inbiased reporting on how toyota is absolutly the best, most green friendly, highest quality, next to goddliness (budda) car maker in the milkey way. all of a sudden the sludge and ball joint problems will magically disappear. yep, they can then give their own ratings on all cars. wow what a hoot that would be when toyota ranks #1 on all cars they make.
just think of it. articles on how the super styled camry is faster and more fun to drive than ferrari. the prius is more stylish and powerful than a corvette. the tundra will be able to pull an aircraft carrier out of water. and last but not least, an in depth article about the luxurious, highly sophisticated, world class answer to rolls royce. the corolla.
Cameron @ Feb 10th 2007 2:48PM
Primedia has done to automotive media what Electronic Arts has done to video games. Made it all one big sellout. You see the same articles in Turbo as you do in Sport Compact Car. Last month, SCC was as thin as Car Audio and Electronics. That's outrageous. The people who made SCC what it was have left for greener pastures.
The only good print car magazine left is Grassroots Motorsports.
Michael Karesh @ Feb 10th 2007 3:01PM
VerticalScope also owns quite a few automotive forums, most of which could stand to be more active. Will these be included in this sale?
JayP @ Feb 10th 2007 3:09PM
Ditto Grassroots Motorsports...
European Car hit the skids years ago. It's nowhere as good as when it was VW&Porsche. EC wanted to be an American version of the $8 Brit imports. Juvenile writing and the same photography in every issue.
I still get HotRod. Why? $10 a year and I can't take my PC into the toilet.
Greg A. @ Feb 10th 2007 3:16PM
"Hmm... perhaps AOL, our own corporate media overlord, is looking for another asset to add to the warchest. Could you even imagine, Autoblog and Motor Trend under the same roof?"
Time Warner (the actual name of the company that is your "corporate media overlord") recently sold off a slew of its magazines and laid off a lot of people from Time magazine, so keep dreaming.
Bill P. @ Feb 10th 2007 3:19PM
As a publisher of an online magazine, I don't envy the "paper, ink, and delivery truck" business model, especially when put up against the likes of Autoblog.com. It will be very interesting to see what dead tree mags sell for in 2007. Autoblog and classicyachtmag.com do it for me these days.
Michael Karesh @ Feb 10th 2007 3:49PM
Would a new owner be more likely to cut the staffs of these magazines to the bone, and milk them for whatever profits remains, or finally upgrade at least one of them to the standard of the best UK and European magazines?
Motor Trend has improved quite a bit in the last year or two. It would be nice to see that continue, and then some.
I've been a subscribed to Car and Driver since 1983, but the recent redesign took away the last remaining connection (other than the name) to the magazine I used to love.
Nick @ Feb 10th 2007 5:00PM
Subscriptions for car mags is like $4 a year on Ebay. If they're giving these away like that, why not subscribe? I certainly wouldn't pay any kind of premium for them anymore, but for $4 a year, why not?
Aki @ Feb 10th 2007 8:53PM
I love Motor Trend magazine--they have an awesome art/photography director. Perfect coffee table material with its visual impact, and they do have occasional exclusives. C&D and R&T on the other hand, just release stuff I can read a month or two before. New C&D redesign is horrid.
I have a two-year subscription to Motor Trend, which cost me a whole $9. As much as I absorb internet car news, can't resist that deal.
Nathan @ Feb 11th 2007 1:11AM
I get MT, C&D, and Automobile. While sites like Autoblog and Leftlane News have information as soon as it is available, I still like the physical magazines. I find paper easier to read for articles in nice thin columns, instead of wide paragraphs on the screen. Online for the quick news, paper for the in depth story.
Portability is also and issue. I don't have a laptop and I even if I did, I don't think it would be a very stable procedure to use on the throne. Perhaps when I get my iPhone that will all change.
Mike @ Feb 11th 2007 1:41AM
No mention of vertical scope forums being sold or beach the owners are currently lounging on:
http://www.rob-laidlaw.com/rob_laidlaw/2007/02/primedia_acquir.html
http://www.jesserasch.com/jesse_rasch/2007/02/primedia_acquir.html
Brandon @ Feb 11th 2007 4:24AM
I didn't know AOL owned Autoblog. Does that mean you live in India?
Bill MacDonald @ Feb 12th 2007 2:22PM
As a guy from a dead-tree publication (Grassroots Motorsports), I'd like to thank Cameron and JayP.
We like to think we're more than a magazine ...
Jessie Jones @ Feb 14th 2007 2:07PM
Doesn't look like anybody is on a private beach sipping pina coladas from the sound of VerticalScope's CEO:
http://www.rob-laidlaw.com/rob_laidlaw/2007/02/in_the_face_of_.html
Several mentions about failure and an overall negative tone. If you just sold something for a small fortune why would you write "In a few years, we will all look back and laugh at where we have come from, and where are now. Today will be a forgotten memory, reserved for nights of too many drinks."
Sometimes companies that appear valuable just aren't due to operational costs which eat away profits, poor management, etc. Seems like it's a real possibility that Modified was not doing as well as we might have thought.