456 replies to this topic

[Ellios]

https://motorsportbr...ne-publication/

 

 

The press release says it's all online now but really, this is very sad for everyone involved.  

Edited by Ellios, 06 October 2019 - 21:26.

[P123]

A bit of vandalism if true. Looks like Motorsport Network have financially over-stretched themselves.

[Bloggsworth]

Autosport has, for years, been a shadow of its former self, I haven;t bought it for years.

[FLB]

An institution is going down...

[TomNokoe]

I grew up in a post-magazine world. I wish I could understand the significance. Terribly sad, by all accounts.

[Vielleicht]

I have very fond memories of getting the latest Autosport magazine and pouring through the pages as a child.

 

The world may change but those memories will never go away.

[JHSingo]

Genuinely gutted by this news.

 

Autosport magazine has been a regular part of my life for more than a decade. I started reading it in 2007, after discovering it by chance in my local supermarket. I still remember that first copy - it was after Dario Franchitti won the Indy 500, and that was the cover story with the famous green branding they used whenever there was a big result for a British driver.

 

Since that first copy, it has seen me through my teens and into my mid 20s. Even when I've been on holiday, I've often called in a newsagents on a Thursday to pick up that week's edition. I even aspired to write for them, and studied journalism at university for that very reason. It introduced me to series and drivers that I either didn't know a great deal about, or hadn't heard of. Whilst I don't buy it as often as I used to, I still pick up a copy every few weeks.

 

I hope Motorsport Network thinks again, but it doesn't look good. What a pity - for one to go would be sad, but to be losing F1 Racing and Motorsport News as well, at a time when motorsport is desperate to get more young people interested in the sport (I feel like I've said that a lot on these forums, lately...) is just baffling.

 

RIP, Autosport magazine. Thanks for the memories.

[whitewaterMkII]

Just last week I was telling someone on here that as a F1 news starved Southern Californian before the 'net, I waited faithfully for the only newsagent that carried it, miles away for it to arrive. It was a weekly trip, well out of my way to get it. The other blessed periodical that I really cared about was subscribing to the Indianapolis Star News to be mailed daily every May. At that time I had my own shop and there was weekly bench racing on Thursday nights as the buds and I devoured the latest issues.

Not surprised really, all print is going the way of the dodo.

[Dino2000]

Times are changing but... for good?

 

I bought my first motorsport-related printed magazine back in 1983. It was the July issue of the spanish "El Automóvil" monthly magazine, and there where stories about the Porsche 956 Rothmans Le Mans win, the Detroit and Canadian F1 GPs with victories from Michele Alboreto and Rene Arnoux, and the Acrópolis Rally with the mighty Lancia 037 of one Walter Röhrl. If you asked me how can I remember, I do not, but just looked for it on my collection and reviewed the pages one more time.

 

In this new digital era everything comes and goes so quicky, to dissapear follow soon leaving a new empty space to be filled again. Memories will dissapear as quickly I fear, 

 

I really can not feel that the times are changing for the better. They do not. If you see my little profile pic, it's myself on the 001 chassis 1955 Ferrari 555 SuperSqualo Formula 1 car on a race at the Jarama circuit way back in the noughties. The car run on methanol, and had to be pushed by our mechanics to start. It was a wonderful beast to drive and to see live. Since then, I have tried quite a lot of modern racing cars, and every year the feel, the emotions that the cars gives you are less and less… 

 

Times are changing but not for the good. If I live time enough, a digital and electrical world will do nothing for me but make me remember those beautiful and smoky times of petrol racing cars and printed magazines.

[loki]

Just last week I was telling someone on here that as a F1 news starved Southern Californian before the 'net, I waited faithfully for the only newsagent that carried it, miles away for it to arrive. It was a weekly trip, well out of my way to get it. The other blessed periodical that I really cared about was subscribing to the Indianapolis Star News to be mailed daily every May. At that time I had my own shop and there was weekly bench racing on Thursday nights as the buds and I devoured the latest issues.

Not surprised really, all print is going the way of the dodo.

Back then there were the two news stands off Hollywood Blvd and the one just off Ventura in Studio City had a full complement of motorsport mags and newspapers though I never noticed the Indy Scar.  ;-)

[Fiorentina 1]

That really sucks, I buy Autosport literally every week here in Southern California. It comes out every Tuesday.... Some years I buy more than others, this last year I think I bought every issue. I bought my first issue in 1985 when I was 11, now I have thousands of them. I've bought quite a few older issues from the book store in Burbank as well as some vintage stores around. This really sucks! I won't pay to read Autosport.com or motorsport.com, so I guess I'll just buy the iPad edition of Autosprint (which I do every Monday at 3 pm) to get my racing fix. I'll miss AutoSport print edition, but I can't see how monthly, 1 month late, F1 Racing is going to solve things.... Damn.....Another stupid move by Zak Brown..... 

[whitewaterMkII]

Back then there were the two news stands off Hollywood Blvd and the one just off Ventura in Studio City had a full complement of motorsport mags and newspapers though I never noticed the Indy Scar.  ;-)

The Indy Star was the daily newspaper which you had to subscribe to by phone. They actually had a huge circulation of mail order only during that month. It generally came in batches of 3-4 issues at a time. Wish I had kept them, they had a great group of writers back then. Now it's a generic USA Today/Gannet rag. My newsstand was in Temple City.

Edited by whitewaterMkII, 07 October 2019 - 05:38.

[Pete_f1]

Autosport was my magazine of choice from mid 1994 up until around 2012. Good features on all forms of motorsport. Once the Motorsport machine got its hands on I guessed at some point they will want to get rid of it for its own brand.

[FirstnameLastname]

So motorsport network seem to have a strategy of ‘buy everything - close them down’

🙃

[kosmos]

I can't care less about the magazine (is not like it was available in newsstand in my country anyway) but, I'm sad if someone is going to lose their job, I hope all of them are moved to the website.

[jcbc3]

For nostalgic reasons and the fact that my passion was also fueled by Autosport I feel a certain amount of melancholy.

However, taking on my objective glasses, this wouldn't happen, if the magazines made money. My conclusion is then, that they are a drain on the scarce resources and that their closure will in fact help the on-line sites improve as more funds would be available.

It seems, that people are slowly getting to the realization that nothing in this world is free and if we want a bit of quality in our reporting we have to pay something for it. The Guardian and New York Times seem to have cracked this particular code and hopefully Autosport.com's users may realize this too. If the name is Autosport.com or motorsport.com is less important in my view.

[FirstnameLastname]

Joe Saward is using the ‘opportunity’ to remind folk that his magazine-but-online is available for subscription, and claims it to be of a higher standard.

Never actually read it, but an option perhaps.

[owenmahamilton]

Joe Saward is using the ‘opportunity’ to remind folk that his magazine-but-online is available for subscription, and claims it to be of a higher standard.

Never actually read it, but an option perhaps.

 

I bought a years subscription to this about 3 years ago and was not that impressed to be honest, he claims that it's the fastest produced newsletter after every race, that may be true but if he took a bit longer to produce it then there would hopefully be a lot less errors, like spelling mistakes, wrong words or words missing, it's like he's never heard of a spell checker or grammar checker.

[WilliamsF1Fan]

I was a long term subscriber but cancelled when everything became available online and I had read most of the content before my copy had been delivered.  That said, it is still a shame as there are occasions when I have bought the magazine in Smiths, especially around car launch season as I loved that coverage in physical form.  Also the Christmas special with the huge crossword (they are more satisfying on paper than on a screen).  

Best of luck to anyone affected when this happens.

[Gary Davies]

Joe Saward is using the ‘opportunity’ to remind folk that his magazine-but-online is available for subscription, and claims it to be of a higher standard.

Never actually read it, but an option perhaps.

I recommend it. 

[Jellyfishcake]

Ah this is sad news, I have still got a ton of my old copies back home at my parents house, I still remember specific front page editions like the one from 2001 when Ken Tyrrell died.

 

Although I hadn't been buying it so much, only the other year did I have a subscription and it was great to take to work and read on my lunch breaks, even if some of the latest news was old news by then, the articles were always good to read.

Likewise, any holidays or long work trips I'd pick up a copy to read as I waited for a flight or on the train.

[DeKnyff]

Motor magazines are a fond memory of my teens in the seventies, in a time when there wasn't a close TV following of motorsports, not even F1. I kept all my magazines (close to 400), until one day my other half said they took too much space and they had to go to a paper recycler.

 

However, let's not get carried away by the nostalgia of our lost youth: we are well into the 21st century and paper doesn't have any real advantage over the electronic format. Not to speak about about the negative environmental effects of paper industry.

[absinthedude]

I read Autosport weekly from 1989 into the 2000s, probably 2007 or so....but the quality definitely dropped. It's still on the stands at several shops I visit to I take a look every few weeks and put it back. Nothing there to interest me. The writing style, stories covered and overall direction of the magazine have turned me away.

 

sad that it's going though. It was an institution once. 

[ArnageWRC]

I'm the same as most people here. First bought it back in April 1991 and bought it regularly until 1994 and became a subscriber. Thought it was marvellous and gave most major motorsport disciplines decent coverage. The special supplements for the bigger events were a bonus as well; F1 Season preview, BTCC, BRC, Le Mans, British GP, RAC Rally, F1 Season review.

 

However, by the early 2000s there had been a change, and there was more of a slant towards F1, with the other series getting less coverage. I'm sure they were merely reflecting the now accepted view that F1=Motorsport.  I stopped subscribing in about 2006, but would still buy it occasionally. 

 

I also subscribed to F1 Racing from the start (March 1996??) but gave it up in about 2002-ish as F1 no longer had a hold on me. It took me longer to notice Motoring News but started buying in October 1998, and have bought it regularly until a few years ago, and only buy it occasionally nowadays. 

 

It was inevitable that once the new owners took over this would happen. I feel for all the hard working staff at all publications.

[grandmastashi]

I bought a years subscription to this about 3 years ago and was not that impressed to be honest, he claims that it's the fastest produced newsletter after every race, that may be true but if he took a bit longer to produce it then there would hopefully be a lot less errors, like spelling mistakes, wrong words or words missing, it's like he's never heard of a spell checker or grammar checker.

 

I enjoy Joe's content and subscribed to GP+ for a while, but I don't think he helps himself sometimes. Jumping into the comments on Twitter to try and shill your product when people are processing the news about Autosport came across to me at best opportunistic and at worst lacking class when chances are some people you likely know as colleagues are possibly facing an uncertain future. 

 

Regarding Autosport itself, I just echo what others are saying. I read it religiously until 2010, when I couldn't justify the weekly price to content ratio any more. It was my boyhood dream to work there, I didn't get that far, but did do a week of work experience on the website in early 2004. I have very happy memories of that week working with Charles Bradley and Simon Strang. I ended up writing a couple of articles for the site that ended up being used as briefs in the magazine - my teenage life was made. I also wrote all the 2004 driver profiles on the site.

[Peat]

The magazine certainly made a big impression on me as a kid. I used to be crushed if my local Forbouys hadn't got it on the shelf early enough on Thursday so that I could buy it before boarding the school bus. 

But... I can't honestly remember when I last even perused a copy in a shop, let alone bought one. It's a dead medium for actual news. I think things like Motorsport Magazine still have thier place, as it's largely a nostalgia mag, but the up to date content doesn't pretend to be breaking news. Just good, in depth conversation. 

 

Tricky times ahead, for sure.  

[F1matt]

Sad news but hardly surprising, the publication has been in decline for years and the internet era has just sped it up. Like many others I used to look forward to Thursdays as a kid to pick up my copy before school and had it read by lunchtime. My first copy was May 1986, bought it religiously till around 5 years ago when it got impossible to justify. I used to love the old front covers, BTCC, WRC over the last few years they had Lewis Hamilton on the cover for the majority of the year, Charles Bradley made a good effort to listen and improve but Ed Straw was useless and killed it off for me. 

 

It will be interesting to see what happens with the Autosport brand moving forward, they have several successful spin offs with the Autosport Awards and the Autosport Show in january. 

Edited by F1matt, 07 October 2019 - 11:05.

[kar]

This is really sad.

 

I remember as a kid living in Australia getting the British magazines (they cost a fortune) and even though they were 3 months old, that was still the best way to get all the news.

 

Times have changed, and frankly weekly magazines just do not make sense anymore. But irrespective of that, it's a sad moment and I'll miss seeing it on the newstands. I bought the odd copy but I'll be honest, I've not bought it weekly since 2007.

 

*EDIT*

 

Another thought, and perhaps the most sad, Autosport provided one of the few windows into club and lower category racing. Even if most bought it for F1, I if anything, the closing of the print mag frees up enough oxygen for someone to be able to make a living covering the lower categories and bringing it to an audience.

Edited by kar, 07 October 2019 - 11:13.

[Cornholio]

Mixed feelings. Used to religiously get it every week from being given my first copy in 1993 (the week after the German GP the one where Damon Hill's tyre blew), to the point it would put a real downer on my week if it wasn't available for whatever reason. As recently as the mid to late 2000s I was still getting it weekly, but since then my own buying of it tailed off for various reasons, increasingly awkward storage (I actually lost a stack of my old ones as the place I had them in storage became consumed by damp), and the fact that increasingly when I did buy it I'd just be re-reading the same reports and articles I'd already viewed online over the previous days, with little in terms of real interesting features.

 

The past few years I've literally only bought it to serve as a train companion when doing a regular long-haul journey I have to do through a particularly wifi/data-less area of the country, and even then when Motor Sport* mag is available in the station's newsagents I tend to buy and spend more time reading that anyway.

 

So yeah while I feel like a big part of my childhood is ending and a bit sad in that way, I do think today was inevitable.

 

*Speaking of Motor Sport, one thing they do is an online archive of all their previous issues. Maybe less overall workload to archive a monthly publication like that than a weekly one, but if some sort of online archive of the magazine could be built up I think that would be a fantastic resource. Guess it depends if profitable though (or indeed if the company still has access to the old 50s/60s/70s copies in full)

[CSF]

Mixed feelings. Used to religiously get it every week from being given my first copy in 1993 (the week after the German GP the one where Damon Hill's tyre blew), to the point it would put a real downer on my week if it wasn't available for whatever reason. As recently as the mid to late 2000s I was still getting it weekly, but since then my own buying of it tailed off for various reasons, increasingly awkward storage (I actually lost a stack of my old ones as the place I had them in storage became consumed by damp), and the fact that increasingly when I did buy it I'd just be re-reading the same reports and articles I'd already viewed online over the previous days, with little in terms of real interesting features.

 

The past few years I've literally only bought it to serve as a train companion when doing a regular long-haul journey I have to do through a particularly wifi/data-less area of the country, and even then when Motor Sport* mag is available in the station's newsagents I tend to buy and spend more time reading that anyway.

 

So yeah while I feel like a big part of my childhood is ending and a bit sad in that way, I do think today was inevitable.

 

*Speaking of Motor Sport, one thing they do is an online archive of all their previous issues. Maybe less overall workload to archive a monthly publication like that than a weekly one, but if some sort of online archive of the magazine could be built up I think that would be a fantastic resource. Guess it depends if profitable though (or indeed if the company still has access to the old 50s/60s/70s copies in full)

 

 

Autosport had a section where you could read back on news and features to 1989 (I think) until the redesign. Sad. 

[potmotr]

Ironically I cancelled my Autosport magazine subscription just last month. I signed up in 2006 and used to by the magazine from shops before that.

 

I'd kept every copy in my loft of those 13 years, and intended to put them in binders.

 

Instead I moved house earlier this year and threw them in a skip, literally hundreds of mags!

 

I remember how excited I was to get hold of an Autosport in the early 90s, when it really was the bible of all things motorsport.

 

The tipping point for me was not having a enough new and interesting stuff in the mag. It's all on the Autosport website.

 

Also, most of the decent features seem to roll out online first, so the magazine became of less and less interest.

 

I think the mag has lacked a proper star F1 writer for a long time. Nigel Roebuck was compulsory reading, but I think he's semi-retired these days.

 

Mark Hughes was really excellent too, but drifted off to Motorsport Magazine plus his Sky F1 committments.

 

So a real shame, but inevitable in this digital world...

Edited by potmotr, 07 October 2019 - 11:42.

[JHSingo]

For nostalgic reasons and the fact that my passion was also fueled by Autosport I feel a certain amount of melancholy.

However, taking on my objective glasses, this wouldn't happen, if the magazines made money. My conclusion is then, that they are a drain on the scarce resources and that their closure will in fact help the on-line sites improve as more funds would be available.

It seems, that people are slowly getting to the realization that nothing in this world is free and if we want a bit of quality in our reporting we have to pay something for it. The Guardian and New York Times seem to have cracked this particular code and hopefully Autosport.com's users may realize this too. If the name is Autosport.com or motorsport.com is less important in my view.

 

Being a very well known news site and having a paywall is one thing (although given The Guardian's financial struggles, and how many times they've had to rebrand themselves to stay in business, I'm not sure they're the best case to cite!), but being a site dedicated to what is a niche interest - when there's countless rival sites catering for the exact same thing - is something else.

 

I've made my feelings about Autosport/Motorsport's paywalls well-known already, but I think you're as likely to drive people away as you are to get them to sign up. Particularly when you consider that following motorsport/F1 is already expensive enough as it is, given the fees you have to pay for Sky/F1 TV, tickets for any races you want to attend, and so forth. Not many people have a lot of dispensable income to use on following their favourite sport.

 

We've talked often enough on these forums how damaging it is to any sport, and F1 particularly given its well known declining audience, to be behind a paywall. I therefore can't see any way it would benefit Autosport to be behind a paywall either.

Edited by JHSingo, 07 October 2019 - 12:05.

[F127]

As a print subscriber; obviously I am disappointed by this rumour.

 

The quality is up and down, but it had recovered the last few years until they randomly decided to remove all the results from some of the race reports. I could live with all of the Hamilton and "What F1 2020 will look like!!!!" covers because the Indycar, Rally, BTCC etc coverage is still pretty good inside.

 

Being in my early 30s I should probably be a digital person, however, the print version still interests me as I can read it outside on a lunch and have a screen break from work or wherever I want. I wouldn't bother subscribing alone for digital content I can pretty much get anywhere. Flipping through a magazine is much more enjoyable than prodding my phone and squinting in the sun.

 

I expect this is more to do with the motorsport groups dealings than anything else, buying up properties to close competition is nothing new.

 

I guess I should wait for something official before I begin a rant.

[liamski]

Sad times. Been a reader since 1985, subscriber for almost 20 years. Magazine has been going downhill for years. Just cancelled my subscription despite promises and assurances from the gentleman on the phone that "Autosport Magazine is 100% definitely NOT closing".... as I say, sad times

[KB78]

I have incredibly happy memories of a pre-internet World, finding the latest issue of Autosport on the Shelves of my Local Newsagent every Thursday. I haven't regularly purchased it since 2013 but still sometimes buy a Copy. I've also bought (& kept) every Issue of F1 Racing since day one. I would like to keep this going until they pull the Plug, any is there any indication as to when this will happen? 

[DinocoBlue]

Sad news for the physical print, but here's hoping it prospers in the online format (including these very message boards).

 

The weekly format is probably not something that has helped matters, but then they're (supposedly) shuttering F1 Racing too. Shame they couldn't have some how merged the two.

[grandmastashi]

I think for this website to truly prosper online they really need to take a long hard look at the current model they're using. There are models of websites with paywalls which work absolutely fine, i'm a big video games fan and Giant Bomb is an amazing example on how to do it well. I've been subscribed to that for years and have no plans of ever cancelling. 

 

The trick seems to be to use free content like news as a 'gateway drug' for want of a better term to get people to subscribe to the premium tier (at a reasonable, affordable price that you don't think about).  

[Fiorentina 1]

Maybe do  26 print issues a year. 1 after each GP. 1 new F1 car issue (my fav issue), 1 F1 preview/ BTTC/ Indycar, 1 season review for F1, 1 season review for every other series, 1 Le Mans issue (I have all since 1979) and the big Christmas Issue. Obviously throw in BTCC, WEC, Indycar, IMSA and so forth during those issues as well. But, maybe 52 print is too much. I buy usually 30 issues a year on average. This year I bought 33 out of 37, last year 40 total.  

Edited by Fiorentina 1, 07 October 2019 - 13:44.

[Ross Stonefeld]

Well the problem is it's 2019 not 1999. The answer to the question of "Do I need to buy Autosport" has changed a lot since then. Back then I had no other choice, getting a race preview issue a week after the Grand Prix was still amazing. Now? eh..

[ensign14]

Maybe do  26 print issues a year. 1 after each GP. 1 new F1 car issue (my fav issue), 1 F1 preview/ BTTC/ Indycar, 1 season review for F1, 1 season review for every other series, 1 Le Mans issue (I have all since 1979) and the big Christmas Issue. Obviously throw in BTCC, WEC, Indycar, IMSA and so forth during those issues as well. But, maybe 52 print is too much. I buy usually 30 issues a year on average. This year I bought 33 out of 37, last year 40 total.  

 

A bit like the much missed Grand Prix International...
 

[grandmastashi]

Wasn't F1 News also somewhat semi-regular? I remember reading that quite regularly around 94/95 and it featured a lot of Jim Bamber cartoons. 

 

Another way could be do a really high quality quarterly magazine, along the lines of the size of the 50th anniversary edition. 

[Bloggsworth]

The TFN forum will lose out in the sense in that, in 30 years, when a new fan wants to check an historical point, no bearded member will be able to say, I've just checked my **th July 2023 edition and here's a scan of the relevant page, because by then, the records of the Motorsport web site will have long been consigned to the WiFi dustbin...

Edited by Bloggsworth, 07 October 2019 - 14:44.

[ElectricBoogie]

In the mid 90's a had a few year subscriptions. Got the magazine by what must have been air mail, before it was in the shops here on the mainland.
Enjoyed it a lot and I learned some English along the way I'm sure.

I've not paid for any content, even TV or netflix, for well over a decade. Just cant bring myself to it anymore. These are different times.
I enjoyed /DRIVE while it lasted and never get tempted to buy access to Autosport PLus, even when they send great teasers to my email.

I'm a bad consumer I suppose. Somehow I manage to keep myself informed on stuff that interests me.

[crooky369]

I feel a bit guilty now seeing my ‘last issue’ of Motorsport Magazine on the dining room table after being delivered just this morning. The magazines are a good alternative to the constant screen staring most of us are guilty of these days plus they’re bigger than any tablet, can be dropped, used in the sun, lost etc with little repercussions.

I honestly think for me the main reason I’ve gone off Motorsport Magazine is the decline of competitive racing in my two favourite series (F1 and WEC) in the past few years. And I guess starting to see the same stories I’ve already read in the past 6-7 years coming back round again. Half of the old magazines I haven’t read yet anyway so time to go through the back catalogue I guess.

[reynard883]

I feel a bit guilty now seeing my ‘last issue’ of Motorsport Magazine on the dining room table after being delivered just this morning. The magazines are a good alternative to the constant screen staring most of us are guilty of these days plus they’re bigger than any tablet, can be dropped, used in the sun, lost etc with little repercussions.

I honestly think for me the main reason I’ve gone off Motorsport Magazine is the decline of competitive racing in my two favourite series (F1 and WEC) in the past few years. And I guess starting to see the same stories I’ve already read in the past 6-7 years coming back round again. Half of the old magazines I haven’t read yet anyway so time to go through the back catalogue I guess.

 

Its Autosport and Motorsport news?  Not Motorsport magazine?

 

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.   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.

[potmotr]

So Autosport won't even confirm it? What a shambles...

 

We are exploring options regarding our print edition and any news will be communicated at the appropriate time.

 

https://twitter.com/...0467227653?s=20

[crooky369]

Its Autosport and Motorsport news? Not Motorsport magazine?

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. 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.

Yes that’s right Motorsport Magazine aren’t affected by this, sorry for the confusion. I just think print media in general will continue to struggle now.

[potmotr]

Yes that’s right Motorsport Magazine aren’t affected by this, sorry for the confusion. I just think print media in general will continue to struggle now.

 

I still subscribe to Motorsport Magazine because of the quality of the mag and depth of its writers and features.

[Burai]

Thoughts go out to all the staff that will lose their jobs, and also the poor bastards in supermarkets and newsagents across the country this weekend who'll be voiding transactions when customers discover that, yes, that is £10.95 for a bloody magazine.

[balage06]

It's sad, but let's face it, when I was a kid, I collected autosport and gaming magazines religiously, but now that I think about it, I haven't bought a single newspaper in the last ~15 years.