Autosport magazine to stop printing magazines at the end of the year

[delta]

Getting bored waiting for ferry at Portsmouth . Looking at FB to pass the time and there are reports that Autosport is stopping .

[gary396]

Originally Posted by delta

Getting bored waiting for ferry at Portsmouth . Looking at FB to pass the time and there are reports that Autosport is stopping .

Some rumours floating around on Twitter tonight about Autosport, F1 Racing and MN. Joe Saward commented saying he'd heard the same stories so maybe something in it? Something about massive price hikes for print editions to force people into online only.

Lots of conflicting stories / rumours at the moment.

[Mike Harte]

Originally Posted by gary396

Some rumours floating around on Twitter tonight about Autosport, F1 Racing and MN. Joe Saward commented saying he'd heard the same stories so maybe something in it? Something about massive price hikes for print editions to force people into online only.

Lots of conflicting stories / rumours at the moment.

I sincerely hope that Kevin will be OK, whatever is happening.

[Fiorentina 1]

So sad, I buy almost all of them these last few years. I have some dating back to the 60's and have bought them regularly since 1983. Damn, so freaking sad....

https://motorsportbroadcasting.com/2...SuYAT18Nd6KS9A

I hope this isn't true....

[midgetman]

Full story is floating around on this site with links. But I'm old and can't link to it via my phone app

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[midgetman]

https://motorsportbroadcasting...E7C...SuYAT18Nd6KS9A

Just been on Twitter and the following tells a story

You can't run a big magazine on so few readers.

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[midgetman]

Someone told me print is making a comeback. I'm not so sure.

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[Mike Bell]

Originally Posted by midgetman

Someone told me print is making a comeback. I'm not so sure.

Like vinyl or 8mm cine film?

Very sad if it happens, and a great shame for those employed by Haymarket, but the cost of buying glossy weekly mags is prohibitive for many folk nowadays. I read Autosport on a tablet via a subscription app that has countless titles from all over the world, but I guess it's a digitised print copy, so maybe that option would disappear as well......

[Peter Mallett]

It looks like the Formula Money owner is speculating. Agreed it is based on that distribution but this may become a self fulfilling prophecy, thereby putting a number of people out of work!

He's ignoring Autosport International, which must be a good profit centre. Likewise the web subscriptions must also support the business. The paper copy is for weekly ad hoc sales and I don't know about anyone on here, but if I go to get a copy on a Saturday there is usually none to be had.

He's also probably in the pay of someone with an interest in the market.

[John Elwin]

Originally Posted by Mike Bell

Like vinyl or 8mm cine film?

Very sad if it happens, and a great shame for those employed by Haymarket, but the cost of buying glossy weekly mags is prohibitive for many folk nowadays. I read Autosport on a tablet via a subscription app that has countless titles from all over the world, but I guess it's a digitised print copy, so maybe that option would disappear as well......

Very sad indeed, if it is true. I bought Autosport religiously every week from 1972-2004, only stopping when I moved here & just buying an occasional copy when in England. It has dropped-off quite considerably in recent years, although I bought one in England the week before Goodwood & thought it had improved somewhat - Kevin's influence is very obvious & he is to be congratulated.

For me, the most worrying thing is that there will no longer be a source to look back for information etc. I've picked-up one or two early sixties issues in recent times for some research & they are surprisingly informative.

[midgetman]

Yes it's probably best to keep comments to one thread.

This one has more info

https://r.tapatalk.com/shareLink/top...ink_source=app

Oh, I hope this works for those of you not on Tapatalk

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[S griffin]

Let's see what the backlash is to this. It's such a shame this has to happen

[Peter Mallett]

Most "magazines" are electronic now. I'm not in favour but a number of things may drive this decision. Don't forget the "green" lobby who want to cut down the use of paper. Then there's the convenience of on line info and the immediacy. On this last point Twitter gets info out quicker than Autosport. Also many people appear to believe on line info from unconfirmed sources rather than highly qualified journalists.

[mark_l]

Originally Posted by Peter Mallett

It looks like the Formula Money owner is speculating. Agreed it is based on that distribution but this may become a self fulfilling prophecy, thereby putting a number of people out of work!

He's ignoring Autosport International, which must be a good profit centre. Likewise the web subscriptions must also support the business. The paper copy is for weekly ad hoc sales and I don't know about anyone on here, but if I go to get a copy on a Saturday there is usually none to be had.

He's also probably in the pay of someone with an interest in the market.

Autosport International has been dying on its arse for years, smaller stands, less exhibitors, larger 'feature' displays, noticebly smaller crowds. Every year I am surprised to see the banner displaying next years dates. When the banner doesn't appear that is the last year, it happened with Max Power Live.

[rich07]

I think this is sad (mainly for the people involved as I do enjoy their YouTube channel) but the magazines quality has suffered greatly in the last five years (if not more). So this isn’t the greatest loss.

[John Turner]

In what way exactly has the quality suffered in the last 5 years? This has been a recurring comment throughout the life of the mag since the late Gregor Grant died.

[VIVA GT]

Originally Posted by John Turner

In what way exactly has the quality suffered in the last 5 years? This has been a recurring comment throughout the life of the mag since the late Gregor Grant died.

As I've mentioned on here before, I finally cancelled my long-running subscription a while ago, not necessarily due to a decline in quality of the magazine, but due to repeatedly late delivery of the magazine. I often did not receive it until the following Monday, by which time I already knew all of the information the magazine would contain (and often more) thanks to this, and other websites. I have continued to subscribe in a digital only way, so can (currently) access their copy that way, but wonder if that will continue or not...
Sadly, in this modern age, printed paper is not the most efficient or timely way to obtain 'news' such as race reports and results, most of this information is relatively freely available on-line. I know tat Autosport magazine also included features and often archive articles, but that's not what I would buy a weekly magazine for anyway.

[andrewc]

My brother is a subscriber, so I tend to read his secondhand copy.

My primary interest is of the club racing section at the back, and for a while in a minor capacity, was a freelance photographer for them.

Several years ago there was a reduction in coverage of UK club motorsport - previously they had a journalist and a photographer at all the circuit events and some hillclimbs/sprints. That coverage was reduced considerably, and its been reduced again with a good number of race meetings being ignored entirely.

The amount of space given to UK club news has also diminished quite a lot in recent times and the ratio of adverts to articles has increased in favour of adverts.

So, compared to a few seasons ago, its a fraction of its former self, and even the paper feels cheaper.

Motorsport magazine seems to be holding its own, and that's a monthly.

[helgi]

Originally Posted by Peter Mallett

Don't forget the "green" lobby who want to cut down the use of paper.

Unfortunately, they don't take into account colossal amounts of energy needed for data centers today. And this amount rises almost in geometric progression.
Besides, written word is "heavier" than a digital one. It came from a trusted source and it can not be transformed into a 404 page. There're magazine's copies dated back to 1950's. But we have lots of sites with useful info that we closed last 10-15 years and almost all the files are lost.

[Lola]

Autosport has had its ups and downs over the last couple of years though. Some weeks I have flicked through it in about 2 minutes as there is so little content.

Its sad not only for the magazine but the people who work there.

I will miss the club section at the back because to me that was the best bit. You cant replicate that online.

[midgetman]

It's like when Littlewoods or Woolworths closed down.

"Such a shame it's going, it should be preserved. "

"When did you last shop there?"

"Ah, well, it's not for me obviously but it should be preserved for others. "

Just as in real life - use it or lose it. And not enough of us used it

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[Adam43]

For clarity are we talking the loss of print, the magazine in digital form too, or everything including the website, show etc....

[Peter Mallett]

Just print.

[redshoes]

Originally Posted by andrewc

Motorsport magazine seems to be holding its own, and that's a monthly.

Motor Sport magazine hasn't really covered that much motorsports for some time. There's little in the way of news or race reports and no results. It's more of 'lifestyle' magazine these days

[coppice]

Originally Posted by John Turner

In what way exactly has the quality suffered in the last 5 years? This has been a recurring comment throughout the life of the mag since the late Gregor Grant died.

I actually think it has improved in the last five years - but it did have a helluva lot of lost ground to recover. I read it every week from about 1972 until the early noughties and whilst I had changed , it had changed even more. It had become an F1 fanzine, much of the copy was lazy speculation and the standard of writing was often painfully bad . It was never going to rival Shakespeare , but the cliche ridden text , which increasingly tried to ape American prose, was hard to read without sighing .

But I had started buying the odd copy again and I was pleased to see some more diversity in subject matter creeping in , and an awareness that motorsport history didn't start the week before last , and that F1 was not the only show in town . Obviously I missed the national coverage it used to have , and I found it frustrating to read opinion pieces by guys who had only been watching the sport for a few years , and how it showed ...

Marcus Pye's national column was excellent but that has been missing for some time, as has meaningful coverage of stuff like the speed hillclimb scene. But that just reflects the audience doesn't it ? Look at the 200 plus posts devoted to a shady sponsor in the F1 forum (who bloody cares ?) and contrast that with the desultory 23 marking Dan Gurney's death ...

Times change ,and so do we .