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Latest news on their site dated March 2018. No mention of any new annual glossy mags (which I thought might have been a biz model they could have made a success of). Sad if so.
It would appear so. At the tail end of last year, their then editor James Smurthwaite became an editor on Pinkbike. He actually responded to a similar sentiment that I posted the other day on PB, where I was agreeing the demise of the mag was really sad. He stated that in spite of their best efforts, decisions above him and his team made it impossible to continue. He signed off by saying "I hope someone buys the name and keeps it going, maybe if i win the lottery.."
Steve Jones famously made the move to start EMBN on youtube, last year somewhat controversially for some.
I'm speculating, but the site traffic clearly wasn't doing the numbers for the publishing house (Factory?) following the demise of the print as we know. Its a shame, James is a talent and his content over the WC season last year on youtube as a 'roving reporter' was pretty interesting. Snuffed out by a dispassionate business it seems.
Given the resurgence of publications like Sender and Shredder MTB Zine, its so crap that the daddy of them all couldn't be sustained. It's heartening to see the DNA of the mag living on though.
Given the resurgence of publications like Sender
gone also, I understand? pity, it was pretty good
Yeah, Sender's gone too 🙁
think they published something at the time explaining it all....
Shame to see it go but I never thought it was coming back after the mag ended, a mag to read at your leisure is very different to a web site but still not enough to keep the staff going.
I guess that's the challenge - making good content pay enough to keep the lights on. At the end of the day, it's sadly irrelevant how good your writing is if you can't monetise it sufficiently.
Thing was, according to most people involved including factory, the mag was actually making money, as were some other mags- the owners decided just to liquidate the whole print business rather than make any real attempt to isolate the better IPs. Bauer media commented that they'd have bought some of the publications if they'd had the opportunity but that the way it was done made it impossible. (basically they needed to take the mags on as going concerns rather than try to revive them months later)
Basically big money making big money decisions for small business.
That's the nub of it I think andyrm, the website always seemed strangely lacking in adverts.
There was talk of the brand being bought up, but I dunno if that went anywhere. There was a random post on Facebook recently as if nothing had happened.
The website has its moments, but it's the mag that was really Dirt. Shame that was culled so unceremoniously, I'd imagine it was propping up the website rather than the other way round as with this place.
Didn't know about Sender too! That's ****.
Wow, that's sad and takes me back to the days of Jerry Dyer, showing my age...
Has Sender gone? Nothing to say so on its website or social media.
JP
No sender updates for a while. The shop looks like it's been mothballed... sad as it is a great little mag.
Looks like Hurly Burly is going to have to last longer this year as my dh mag...
Will give shredder a go next...
Shredder is a good read though as it's a one man band it's not that regular. TBH I've been enjoying Cranked just as much.