by Greg Dool from https://www.foliomag.com/
TEN Publishing will shutter 19 of its 22 automotive magazines by the end of the year, leaving MotorTrend, Hot Rod and Four Wheeler as the only three titles that will continue to be published in print in 2020.
According to a memo sent to staffers at MotorTrend Group Friday morning and obtained by Folio:, titles going out of print include Automobile, Lowrider, Truck Trend and Vette, among several others. A full list can be found below.
“It was announced today that TEN Publishing will discontinue publishing 19 of its 22 automotive print titles by the end of the year,” wrote MotorTrend Group president and GM Alex Wellen in the memo. “I know this is difficult news, but I want to assure you that we remain committed to you and your pursuit to deliver quality automotive storytelling and journalism across all of our content platforms.”
MotorTrend Group, a joint venture formed in 2017 and majority owned by Discovery, Inc., comprises the digital and video businesses of the company formerly known as The Enthusiast Network, whereas TEN Publishing controls those brands’ print magazines. Under a licensing agreement, MotorTrend Group provides editorial and ad sales support to TEN, producing content for both MotorTrend Group’s digital platforms and TEN’s magazines.
“Simply put, we need to be where our audience is,” Wellen continued in the memo. “Tens of millions of fans visit MotorTrend’s digital properties every month, with the vast majority of our consumption on mobile, and 3 out of every 4 of our visitors favoring digital content over print.”
“While TEN Publishing will no longer print the following magazines,” he wrote, “[MotorTrend Group] will continue to offer our audiences and advertisers digital coverage for these discontinued print titles online,” adding that subscribers to the shuttered magazines will be offered digital subscriptions to MotorTrend, Hot Rod or Four Wheeler as well as MotorTrend‘s video streaming service.
The memo didn’t explicitly warn of impending layoffs at MotorTrend Group as a result of the changes at TEN, but did notify staffers of the creation of a one-time voluntary separation program, in which some editors and salespeople will be given the option to resign in exchange for “special separation benefits.”
“We created the VSP to empower eligible employees to be a part of the decision-making process around how we evolve the business,” Wellen told staffers. “The next phase of our growth is crucial, and many of you will need to make some important decisions.”
In a statement provided to Folio:, MotorTrend Group said it is “doubling down on our best-in-class digital product experiences, while maintaining our support of the three most popular, profitable and strategic brands across digital and print—MotorTrend, Hot Rod and Four Wheeler.”
A Tweet sent Friday from Automobile‘s account seemed to confirm that the brand would live on digitally.
“While TEN Publishing will no longer print Automobile Magazine, MotorTrend Group will continue to offer our digital coverage,” it said. “On the web, it’s full steam ahead.”
The publisher of more than 60 enthusiast magazines as recently as five years ago, Source Interlink Media was rebranded TEN: The Enthusiast Network in 2014 after its parent company, Source Interlink, filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy following the collapse of its magazine wholesaling business.
In 2017, TEN formed a joint venture with Discovery, Inc. that would combine the company’s, automotive digital, DTC, social and live events businesses—essentially everything other than its automotive print magazines and its adventure sports brands—with Discovery’s Velocity TV network. That venture, majority owned by Discovery with backing from GoldenTree Asset Management, was rebranded MotorTrend Group a few months later.
“While TEN’s print businesses will not be contributed to the new venture, a commercial agreement will allow for continued cross-promotion between the print portfolio and the new venture for a true multiplatform, 360-degree advertising offering,” read an August 2017 statement announcing the venture.
Earlier this year, TEN Publishing sold its 14-title adventure sports portfolio, including Bike, Powder and Surfer magazines as well as the Dew Tour event series, to National Enquirer publisher American Media, LLC for an undisclosed sum.
Here’s a full list of discontinued titles:
- 4-Wheel & Off-Road
- Automobile
- Car Craft
- Chevy High Performance
- Classic Trucks
- Diesel Power
- Hot Rod Deluxe
- Jp
- Lowrider
- Mopar Muscle
- Muscle Car Review
- Muscle Mustangs & Fast Fords
- Mustang Monthly
- Street Rodder
- Super Chevy
- Super Street
- Truck Trend
- Truckin’
- Vette
