› Forums › Forums › GENERAL DISCUSSION › Hot Rod-Motor Trend Publisher goes Bankrupt
randy-fish.
dinoGoogle it …”Hot Rod Magazine Bankrupt”…..Plenty of info like this :
Bloomberg News is reporting that Source Interlink, the large conglomerate behind Motor Trend and Hot Rod magazine, will be filing for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection. A Delaware court will be handling the proceedings for a restructure in order to make it financially viable for future publishing operations. Source Interlink retired several of its smaller publications over the past year due to increasing losses. What’s striking: the publisher has nearly two billions dollars collected in debt, almost totalling the enterprise’s net worth.
The downturn was expected; the magnitude of the debt crisis wasn’t. The company proudly boasts of having seventy-five magazines and companion sites under its ownership. That’ll likely change as low-volume niche publications are sold off or simply retired. (There isn’t a real demand for them right now.)
…………………………………………….Randy…whats the scoop ?
randy-fish
This whole chain started with McMullen-Yee Publishing, where I started working around 1990 (and stayed for 12 years) after moving from Connecticut. When Tom McMullen died after crashing his own airplane, the company was sold after a conglomerate (then) called K-III was the highest bidder. K-III was headed by Wall Street sharks, Kolberg, Kravis and Kirkorian.
They changed the name to Primedia and acquired other companies, the last of which was the former Petersen Publishing, which had already been acquired once by a British concern for Billions, and finally acquired by Primedia for less than half that much, as it had become a shadow of its former self. Kravis, Kolberg and Kirkorian felt the publishing business wasn’t generating enough return, so they sold to Source Interlink, whose major business (before acquiring Primedia) was primarily the distribution of magazines and DVDs.
Their debt load was astronical and with so many overlapping titles, so much debt, and so much overhead, everything began to crumble. Since late last summer, they’ve had several rounds of layoffs in an attempt to stem the tide, but as yesterday’s announcement shows, it was too little too late. Hey, we’ve had layoffs, too, but we’re much smaller, much more solvent, and decidedly much more lean. That’s it in a nutshell.
dinoDDS .com gets the straight scoop first ! Thanks for that highly informative history …So, will we see HOT ROD again …Or does “restructuring” delay the death of that and other titles.
randy-fish
I’m sure you’ll continue to see Hot Rod, as it’s a staple of their portfolio, even though it’s a shadow of its former self, circulation-wise. In the magazine world, however, readers of Hot Rod are considered to be casual observers, or un-qualified readers (those who do not buy advertiser’s goods). That’s a by-product of selling the subscriptions so cheap. Also, many copies go to doctor’s offices and other “give-away” programs, which merely boosts the numbers with more, you guessed it, un-qualified readers.
The biggest problem Source has is its large number of redundant, or overlapping titles, i.e. Street Rodder, Rod & Custom, three or four Mustang titles, several truck titles, Super Chevy, Chevy High Performance, etc. They’re competing with themselves in countless niches. Many publishing execs are surprised they didn’t “off” some titles to help stem the tide of trouble they’re swimming in and streamline the operation. Primedia sold off many titles over their years of stewardship and those were just good business decisions.
masoWe are seeing drastic payroll cut backs here to at the Miami Herald Publishing Co. where I have worked since August 1977 as a part time employee. I have survived two major payroll cut backs this year. We are also seeing drastic decreases in circulation. One of my buddies, a somewhat handicapped fellow was let go after thirty six years as a past-up artist.
I deserve credit as a true “survivor”… so far anyway…
The MHPC was a Knight-Ridder corporation untill a few years ago when it and other K-R companies were bought out by McClatchy from Sacramento, California. They are not much more than a “Chop Shop” it seems.
randy-fish
I hear ‘ya, Maso. We just got a 10-percent whack. That’s what I get for watching my budget and running it “really lean.”
McEwen said, “What’s 10-percent of almost nothing?” They also keep raising our ad goals so it’s impossible for him to reach the next bump up in commission. Hey, we’re gonna stay on the throttle til it burns to the ground. We’re still doing a whole lot better than Source.
