MEDIA SPECIAL | CYCLING PRESS
Shred is now digital friendly in all formats, as well as producing a thicker magazine
Cycle press cuts fine figures
Be it digital or print, the consumer-facing cycling press is vibrant and keeping pace with the constantly evolving media business. Mark Sutton pins down some publishing head honchos for their story...
FACTORY MEDIA – As this magazine hits desks it’ll be spot on a year since Factory Media acquired Road Cycling UK and mountain biking website Bike Magic. That takeover, according to director James
Carter, has allowed the publisher’s business to keep up the pace on the steady, yet consistent growth in the firm’s five year history. Carter told BikeBiz: “We’re covering the
majority of cycling now. BMX is comprehensively looked after with Ride UK, Dig magazine, BMX Basics and race site BMX Talk, as well as Freedom, the leader in the German market. RCUK spans road, cyclocross and everything in between, while Dirt and Bike Magic do a great job in off-road territories. Although Bicycle Buyer has been put on the backburner for now, we feel that Mpora Gear fills that space, giving consumers a place to share information and reviews on product.” From one acquisition to another, Factory itself has seen a majority stake investment from the Forward Internet Group. According to Carter, this will help the publisher expand the ambitions of its 25 online platforms all falling under the
Mpora.com umbrella. Carter said: “Forward bought out the VC
backing that was held by Foresight Group and plan to quickly accelerate the business through a host of technical advances on multiple platforms including the web, mobile and Apps. Forward are online experts in understanding audience behaviour and among their brands are popular utilities site uSwitch.”
28 BIKEBIZ MARCH Verified figures seen by BikeBiz show the
Mpora.com domain to have received some 2,426,851 unique visitors in the month from January 16th to February 15th.
SHRED –Steve Toze’s A5 magazine continues
Factory Media now has 25 online platforms, one of which is Dirt
to gain fans, upping its frequency to six issues annually and improving the quality of the paper stock in the process. Toze told BikeBiz: “We are still keeping the iconic style and paper print size that people like, but for the digital offering we have made some further improvements. We’ve continued and developed our popular Shred App, which now has even more functionality and an Apple NewsStand presence. Further to that, we’ve also tweaked the Shred Store for enhanced ease of use.” The publisher’s partnership with the
National Trust continues to flourish – a deal which sees the organisation supporting the editorial team’s activities during events. ”With more resources in place, we are
striving to lay down new features and content for the website and social media feeds on a regular basis. When we’re not doing all of that, we run running and triathlon events, as well as Cyclocross and MTB events in conjunction with our National Trust partnership. All of these activities are publicised and co-ordinated in a holistic and symbiotic fashion by SpikePR, Shred’s parent company.”
MBR’s average net circulation per issue was 28,204
THE RIDE JOURNAL – Much loved magazine and varied collection of stories from around the
globe, The Ride Journal continues to gain fans, launching the latest issue at popular London cycle café Look Mum, no Hands! Publisher Philip Diprose said of the latest
issue: “Having grown yet again it is now almost 200 pages. We’ve got riders in the cold, from Alaska to Oslo. Riders in the heat from Nullarbor desert to Mallorcan mountains. Absolute beginners, through to weekend warriors. Plenty of pro-riders, a Guinness record holder, a world champion and even an Olympic gold medal winner. Pieces to inspire the head, the heart and the legs of every type of rider. Whether you are a seasoned rider, or new to the game, big wheeled, small wheeled, dirt, track or tarmac. Hell, we’ve even got a rider being chased by a police helicopter. I think we’ve got something for most people.” Also notable is the new line of branded cycling apparel for fans of the journal, made by Morvelo and available to order via the magazine’s website –
theridejournal.com – itself due a revamp soon. Diprose added: “The Ride Journal continues to be the first and hopefully the best genre defying, all wheel size embracing, globally covering, journal of riders tales. The final product is tweaked from issue-to-issue but the formula and passion remain the same: to cover the soulful stories that encapsulate what it means to be a rider. After a longer than usual break we are back with issue six and the seventh will be due in time for Christmas, with a bit of luck.”
BIKEBIZ.COM
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