Bike, Surfer, Powder, & Snowboarder Magazines Shut Down
It's the end of an era. According to multiple sources, Bike, Powder, Snowboarder, and Surfer magazines are being shut down by their parent company, American Media Inc.
Even though I make my living via the internet, I'll forever have a soft spot for print media – there's something about holding a magazine in your hands and actually turning the pages that makes it seem more real, more significant and less ephemeral than online content.
I purchased my first issue of Bike in 1995 from a Stop & Shop grocery store, and I was instantly enamored by the irreverent attitude, the stunning imagery, and the articles that weren't just about racing. It opened my eyes to a whole new world, and it's safe to say that it altered the path of my life. It's where I first saw photos of Gunnison, Colorado - the accompanying article described a riding scene and pace of life that further cemented my decision to leave the East Coast and begin my westward migration.
Bike was also one of the first publications to showcase the birth of the freeride movement on Vancouver's North Shore, and Sterling Lorence's unforgettable images of those early days were the inspiration for multiple roadtrips to the promised land, a place of fog, wet roots, ladder bridges, and rock rolls scattered throughout the dense forest.
The list of world-class photographers whose images were published in Bike is vast, as is the list of talented writers whose names were on the masthead over the years. It's sad to see such a storied publication cease to exist so suddenly – best of luck to all the employees who have been furloughed, and to all of the remaining print publications still making quality analog content in a digital world.
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I'm not a fan of paying for ads.
Second, what you say makes a lot of sense. Could this be a chicken or egg type question? Maybe as density raised when people stopped buying prints? I don't know
I think paper and online both have their place. Online is probably best for "quick news". Race results (the quick immediate ones, Misspent Summers EWS or WCDH yearbooks definitely have their place), product reviews (including "spy shots") etc. You can put them in your paper mag but it is old news once it reaces the reader, not even talking about the value it has a year or longer from then (unless it really has some historical value). So it is no longer worth trying as a paper mag. On the other hand the more "durable" content may (IMHO) be better suited to paper. All Eskapee articles deserved to be on paper (as they did with their Anthology books) and there are some good articles on Pinkbike which I'd be willing to pay for and have them in a Misspent Summers kinda book. In depth interviews with industry veterans, athletes etc, travel reports, research about training, injury and recovery.
So yeah I think paper mags definitely can survive but they have to focus on the stuff you'd be willing to read again after a few years. Online can't beat that simply because online reading still isn't as comfortable as reading from actual paper (and considering the amount of screen time most of us are getting, not even a good idea). And paper can't beat online in terms of immediacy. It is a waste to even try.
That said, I feel news on the dirtmountainbike.com website is much slower than it was back when they were still doing print.
I actually like alot of the ads they are nostalgic to me.
You can say that again, the whole site has been furloughed since 2018 it appears..... a sad loss when factory media pulled the plug. I used to subscribe to the print mag from here in Japan and still would be if it were up and running.....
RIP Bike and Powder
I think that a lot of magazines could go that route.
It's not easy but it can be done.
But would you pay for it? I guess thats the question.
At the end of the day, bike mag’s reviews all ended up on line, and if you’re trying to save trees then there was no point in buying a physical mag.
I think they probably also get better rates for ads than a print magazine would since companies can directly link out to their products from the ad in the digital magazine.
Either way, I think there are still more than enough paper magazines and yearbooks thriving these days. I've been reading Dirt Magazine since late 2003 so I was bummed when it went out of print and somehow whatever got on their website just wasn't quite the same quality as what used to end up in the paper mag. It just wasn't as much fun to read. But when Dirt went out of print, we got Cranked. And Misspent Summers has been pumping out quality books as well. Saving trees and all, I wonder how much energy it takes for us to read an online article, with all the algorithms running to track and process our behavior. Someone once said a Google search takes about the same energy as making a cup of coffee? I wonder how much it takes to deliver us a webpage on a magazine like this and run all the algorithms in the background. A paper mag may not even be that bad.
Bike started out in the mid 90s with exactly what you describe as valuable, growing content - I don't recall them ever doing a race report, but the core of what they did was long form storytelling. It was a breath of fresh air compared to MTB Action and MBi - although they were pretty darn good in their own right. Bike also (IIRC) moved from ten issues a year to quarterly publication.Mags like MTB Pro, MTB World and Singletrack arguably fitted the same mold at a later date - in fact, Chipps specifically calls this out in the news story on the front of Singletrackworld right now. The bigger 'problem' is a wider variety of titles online and off, a diversity of media formats and the inherent overheads of print publication. Back in the 90s, there was enough scarcity of content to make print mags the go-to place for advertisers. Nowadays there's a lot more choice - and many brands also sponsor athletes who create their own content and have their own followings.The sport and the industry it supports has grown, for sure, but so have the number of avenues marketing departments can use to push their company's product.
It's important to remember that readership is only one bit of the publishing mix, and the cover price often barely covers the cost of print and distribution - the rest of a title's income is derived from selling ads, and that's only profitable if you can point to a dedicated, measurable, engaged readership. Print mags have all kinds of stats from auditors (in the UK it's always been the PPA or ABC, not sure elsewhere), but that's all they have. If you have a login to an MTB website or five, then it's likely that web site will have far more detailed info on its subscriber base, and an advertiser will have to pay far less to reach its desired audience and get an outcome.
eskapee.com
That is, Misspent Summers took over. I don't know whether it will be in print and/or online, but it will definitely be good!
Just for a reference point, I ran their domains through a tool I use for my work in marketing that estimates the value of the organic search traffic a domain gets every month (more specifically, what it'd cost you to pay for that same traffic in equivalent Google PPC keyword advertising).
That came out as:
Powder.com - $67.7K
Bikemag.com - $50.5K
Surfer.com - $88.0K
Snowboarder.com - $56.3K
Now - obviously that's just one ballpark metric - but it's a ballpark metric that's helpful in assessing the value of a web property.
It's wild to me that with each property generating $50K+ per month worth of just search traffic, they can't find a way to keep the doors open on a digital property. Across their network, that should represent about $250k/mo in digital revenue or north of $3m/yr. Their actual revenue potential should be much higher, because obviously, you're representing access to a reader group that's very valuable to specific brands.
To me, it speaks of either long-term poor management decisions, an unwillingness to change and adapt.
I don't mean to be critical. Digital media can be a brutal business, there are lots of reasons that even well-run companies can fail, and my heart goes out to all the employees who just lost their jobs.
My point is that from an outside perspective, it seems like there should be plenty of revenue potential there to keep these going as digital properties unless they're burdened by so much debt so as to make that impossible.
Good analysis though. What does a site like MTBR come up with as a revenue number? That is probably the minimum viable content amount to keep a site going since they are mainly forum based.
Probably inaccurate for anything as niche as mountain biking if you're actually trying to guesstimate at the revenues of a site, but a piece of data that, say, an investor group might be interested in looking at if they were thinking of coming in and monetizing a web property that was for sale, or an advertiser might look at if they were considering making an ad-buy on a site. And comparatively probably reasonably accurate.
Agree that $600K/yr isn't going to put out something up to par with what we've come to expect from Bike, Powder and the like fora print publication. But is it enough to fund a decent online niche publication? Most certainly.
I know we're just kind of making up numbers here, but $400K/yr for infrastructure for a digital publication on a $600k/yr budget sounds nuts. The same tool I was using for those $ estimates puts BikeMag.com at 141k monthly visitors from organic search. Let's assume that's half their traffic, and double it to give some breathing room. That's still 564k monthly visitors.
Managed hosting from a good, hands-on host to handle that level of traffic is only going to run you $400 - $600/mo. Let's average it out at $500 and you're spending $6k/yr on hosting. Let's add another $19K for site operations just to be on the safe side, and you're still only at $25K for hosting/infrastructure.
That basically leaves you with $575k to split between content production and administrative costs. Enough to pay, say, 4-people a very fair salary (for the industry).
Could 4 talented employees (or more likely a mix of full-time employees and contractors) produce a quality digital product in any one of those niches with that budget? Absolutely.
I fully admit that we're mostly just making stuff up here. The only thing I'm reasonably confident of is that all these publications could successfully continue on as digital-only if there wasn't something else (like excessive debt, poor management/planning, personal issues etc.) preventing that.
EDIT: I totally forgot about YouTube. The last pinned video on their channel has over 9-million views, of their editor building up a Santa Cruz for their photo editor. You know how much you can charge a sponsor to create a video focused on your brand when your last one clocked up 9-million views? Lots. Especially in the right niche.
At an average of around $7.50 per thousand view on the platform, buying 9-million views on YouTube directly would cost a brand about $67k. And there's arguably more value in this type of "sponsored content" than just straight ads.
TL;DR: There's a ton of value left in these properties, and now I'm even more sad that they're just straight up shutting down.
In 2010 the web was most definitely in full force, so there was a lot more competition for advertising. That was hurting all of the titles the company produced - a web-only title had lower overheads (at the time - I don't know now, having been out of the game so long), and didn't need to have the same level of readership to take a little bit of advertising spend away from print. It was death by a thousand cuts - lots of marginally profitable websites, a few monstrously successful ones as well, and suddenly print titles had a whole ton of new competitors that hadn't been there five years ago.
The second thing was ownership, specifically private ownership. The magazine's publisher was debt-free and a very lean business. Then it sold its UK arm to a private equity company. Three sales (iirc) to two further PE firms and, finally, another PE-owned publishing company and we were suddenly tens of millions of pounds in debt. Every PE buyer had borrowed against our value and then sold it on. That's how they made their money. The only value they added was to find another buyer for us - one that added more debt. From being told we were debt-free and in good shape to being told we were in debt and would have to tighten editorial belts took about 18 months in total.
Now, I don't know about BIKE mag in particular, although I should point out it's one of the reasons I got into print magazine journalism, and it's been one of the consistently more brilliant magazines over the years. But I do know is changed ownership a few times over the years, and so it's overheads are likely to have been more than the magazine's immediate staff.
Thanks
- If that aint the way of the world these days I don't what is. Something need to be done about it. It's impacting nearly every industry, housing most prominently, but manufacturing as well. Money being created from nothing, just speculation on future value.
I'm in journalism, photographer at a small town newspaper in a mountain bike town. The value of content and employing people who are passionate about telling stories cannot be undervalued. This is so sad to me.
It is pitiful what passes as "content" recently. Maybe I am just old and suffering from "back in the day" rose-tinted glasses syndrome, but somehow, I think not.
If you listen carefully enough, you can sense the demand for depth; for long form written word, for more than temporary, instant, shallow, meaningless media 'influencer' inspired 'content' that is as transparent as the forced smiles that accompany it, coming from the mouths of those who still differentiate quality from quantity.
Yet those voices are, and shall remain, unheard unfortunately as the world turns ever more quickly on, dancing to the drum of the latest algorithm.
en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wanderer_above_the_Sea_of_Fog
Some of you may appreciate this link and its relationship to "content" and its provision.
Gonna miss Bike. And Powder defined skiing culture for years. What a loss. Hopefully digital can work for them. Pink Bike will be a lot to catch up with though. Kinda like ICE makers trying to catch Telsa in the EV game though.
I’ve got a reprint of “wanderer above the mists” in my office
@brianpark: I say hire him for the meditative bike build videos alone. And let him throw in a Palmer's Peeves every now and then. Just keep him off the sauce while filming...
I kinds saw this coming, though. The magazine kept getting thinner and thinner and their newest Bible of Bike tests production quality wasn't at the level of years past or what Pinkbike is putting out now.
I wish the whole Bike team the best of luck, though, and hope they land on their feet.
Like - what is a bike shop, without a questionably-cleaned restroom, toilet paper held up by an old Rock Shox Mag21 fork crown, stack of Bike magazines in the corner for reading enjoyment? Lava soap hand wash smell. Grease on the sink. That's Bike Magazine.
Hope the team finds new gigs soon
Pretty sure Freehub Magazine is the only publication worth anyone's time and money.
pre·ten·tious
/prəˈten(t)SHəs/
adjective
attempting to impress by affecting greater importance, talent, culture, etc., than is actually possessed.
"The hardtail episode" is basically an hour of listening to why hardtails suck.
In another episode a dude (Kaz, I think, but not certain) goes on and on about how bike shops are "toxic" to work at, based on some negative experience he had as a teenager, and continues to try to defend this stance without any real evidence other than his anecdote.
There are a few other instances, but overall it's alright to listen to. I went into it with high expectations and was a bit disappointed. They act as if anything other than the latest enduro wonder bike is "fine if you're on a budget" or for non-enthusiasts.
And that anything other than lift-access big mountain riding is for peons. You're from BC, we get it.
Could just be me, but again, I started listening with a big smile. Ended with a neutralish frown.
Levy is cool. Kazimer letting his "riding do the talking" doesn't really help a podcast be more listen-able. Not sure how that would apply.
Either way, you don't need to listen if you're not enjoying it, but we're trying to make them entertaining and interesting for most people.
Buy yea, keep it up! I'm glad the podcast exists, even if it isn't my favorite. I'll still listen here and there just because it's about mountain biking and I really enjoy this website.
I guess some people will never know the pleasure of reading a paper magazine,I can't even begin to understand it.
Where can I read opinions from Mike Ferrentino? He is the best.
Regarding Powder, it hasn't been of any use for over 10 years. They really just print whatever ad copy that is sent their way. Blister Gear has long since taken their place, with the exception of the photo annual.
We're at an immense loss of writing skills: Just read the Grimy Handshake, the articles of Nicole Formosa and even Ryan's reflections.
And that's me saying, whose main language is German. We don't have anything like it here, where biking is all about bikes and parts and tests and shit. But not about human life's ups and downs and how biking simply makes it better.
Pretty hard finding a newsagent that stocks MTB bike mags these days
i2.wp.com/www.powder.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/07/POWDER-COVERS-76.jpg?ssl=1
Either way it is a sad day for me. I still remember when the first issue came out. It was revolutionary at the time in content and format. The imagery was stunning and it was the first time a bicycle magazine had focused so much on visuals and the core riders instead of the general population. Later on they lost their way and started taking themselves too seriously, but the Bible was another revolutionary idea that started at the magazine and is not copied across the industry.
I hope Bible Bike Tests continues on youtube/online as well as I do appreciate what they have to say and how they review.
PB needs to hire a couple of those guys for sure, it can't hurt.
I was literally about to send an email to Bike Mag to try and have some stuff published and thought I'd look on Pinkbike first... Then you see this... :-(
Quality paper print mags should be saved people!!! So bummed to hear about this.
With Bike I have thoroughly enjoyed Butcher Paper and Grimy Handshake over the years. Butcher Paper especially, has always been a joy to read and 'Buzz' was always full of beautiful photos with spending some time with.
I was hopeful that the quarterly approach that Bike had taken was going to allow them to prosper. I certainly think there is a place for more long form writing and printed photos but I think it's going to take a different business model to deliver this on paper.
Kids don't do static fixed schedule media like us old folks. My teenagers don't watch tv ( they stream), listen to the radio ( stream), read newspapers ( what are those), or buy magazines ( silly mom or dad got them the odd subscription but they never asked). I bet the younger readers here are pretty much the same.
My age is making me a bit like my teenagers, the grim doughnut is old news and I have nearly forgotten about it completely already. Same goes for my media uptake lately, it all comes to me via the evil ether.
In 30 years will we look back and ponder the news in 2050 "Specialized announced today that they are getting out of the non-assisted bike business, they could no longer get enough adds on the bike to make up for the weak demand and poor sales. Specialized was the last of the mainstream bike companies still be producing classic mechanical bikes.
Only to realize later in the evening, that one of the pioneer, Dave Swetland, passed on October 4th 2008.
Now I read that Bike magazine is gone today?? which was the main Media stream from that era and the boost of the freedom we have on bikes.
Magazines have inspired me as much as what you @mikekazimer, it is for sure the the end of an era. Getting the “cover of a magazine“ is still an expression that will stay with a strong meaning. Sad times. I wish the digital didn’t take over as much as it did.
Dammit.
Bike got thinner and thinner every issue, so it doesn't surprise me. I would love to see an MTB mag on the same level as Racer X Illustrated for moto.
There is just something about reserving content for you print subscribers, and having a good quality paper mag in your hand while taking care of business on the sh*tter.
Losing another magazine doesn't help any of us, whether you subscribed or not. I always figured that for less than $20 per year (that's one cheap meal), I could get the print version.
I'm sure the staff at Bike are on here, I'd love to see where they end up if the whole thing goes down, but hopefully they keep their jobs via the website, and we get another "Pinkbike"!
You have shaped my life, as well as so many other surfers'/riders'. You will be missed and we will tell our grandchildren about you in reverent tones.
There certain models for newspapers that publish some of the content for free, and some with limited access;
for pink bike it could be like:
- all announcements/press releases - free
- Sport coverage / Field test - subscription based
with like limit of 1 article from paid content per month fo free;
Hopefully, many of the Bike Mag folks get picked up by Pinkbike, MTBR, or GMBN.
en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/American_Media,_Inc.
-Boston Native in the Bay Area
Sad: what are we going to read now on The Throne?
This sucks. The mag is dead, long live the mag!!!