I received from John Cobb, Senior Vice President Group Publisher of Primedia, the following press release regarding major changes with the Group motorcycle magazines.
"Dear Industry Partner. In February this year we launched Hot Bike Baggers to address the popularity of this market segment. The news has been extremely positive both on the advertising front as well as showing strong demand for the title on the newsstand. As a result, starting with the October issue, BAGGERS will increase its frequency from bi-monthly to monthly for the remainder of 2007 and into 2008. In order to accelerate the growth of this title and provide our marketing partners with the largest possible consumer audience, we are absorbing Hot Rod’s Bike-Works into the Baggers title. This strategy gives us an additional 42,000 subscribers for Hot Bike BAGGERS and makes us the #1 book in the category. We will continue with the same editorial format that has made BAGGERS a success. Additionally, based on the input of our readers and marketing partners over the past six months we are also evolving HOT BIKE. The September issue of HOT BIKE introduces a new redesign that repositions this leading brand, addressing the changes in the Harley-Davidson and custom motorcycle market. The concept behind the redesign was to create a more contemporary and sophisticated magazine, which reflects the industry’s continuous progression. Key elements such as large, impactful images and engaging layouts help to vary the pace of the magazine and keep readers intrigued. What will not change is our goal to consistently deliver the best magazine to our current loyal audience and to attract new consumers. We believe these proactive changes are just the beginning of things to come from the American Motorcycle Group, as we continue to strengthen and grow our role as the market leader". John Cobb. Senior Vice President Group Publisher. PRIMEDIA Motorcycle Group
I wish they’d pay me for the cover story I wrote for Bike Works!!!