AMI Purchases Bike Mag, Dew Tour, & Other Sports/Adventure Titles

Feb 2, 2019
by Mike Kazimer  
American Media has announced the acquisition of TEN: Publishing's Adventure Sports Network (ASN), which consists of 14 adventure and sports brands including Bike, Powder, Surfer, and Snowboarder. American Media, whose other titles include US Weekly, Men's Journal, and National Enquirer will also take over management of the Dew Tour.

The news comes a few weeks after American Media announced that it had raised $460 million to refinance its outstanding debt capital.

"The opportunity to merge the incredible ASN brands with our recent acquisition of Men's Journal establishes a significant digital network and underscores American Media's commitment to diversifying our brand offerings and revenue streams," said American Media Chairman and CEO David J. Pecker.

"I am confident that under the management of the Men's Journal leadership, the addition of ASN's incredible digital and social scale will be important factors in our continued growth and success."
photo

According to a press release, American Media will now manage the Dew Tour, which was attended by approximately 84,000 fans at its events in Long Beach, CA, and Breckenridge, CO in 2018, along with several other events.

Norb Garrett, President of ASN, said, "ASN has built a portfolio of the most enduring brands in the adventure sports media landscape. Under American Media's leadership, we will continue to grow our multi-platform reach across digital, social, print, and experiential events."

No layoffs were mentioned in the press release from American Media, although there are reports that editorial staff from multiple titles were let go. In addition, a post from the editor of Transworld Motocross stated that the the “magazine, web site, and race series are on hold.”

More info as we get it.

Posted In:
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128 Comments
  • 88 0
 Coming articles to look forward to "evidence of ancient MTB culture found on Mars", "Aztecs invented plus sized tyres" and "Shimano XTR is an elaborate hoax".
  • 43 4
 And 650b is a communist plot. Thanks, Obama!
  • 47 1
 I mean, Shimano XTR IS an elaborate hoax...
  • 48 2
 Atherton Bikes causes bad teeth.
  • 47 3
 @Levelheadsteve: what is it with you damn yanks taking the piss out of British teeth?! I don’t know how you dare, I mean take me for example, a have a lovely, pearly white tooth.
  • 7 23
flag davemud (Feb 2, 2019 at 10:47) (Below Threshold)
 XTR is an elaborate hoax. The only thing XTR offers over anything else is bragging rights for those with fragile egos who are impressed by such trivial things.
  • 4 13
flag trails801 (Feb 2, 2019 at 11:34) (Below Threshold)
 GO SRAM!
  • 9 0
 @Levelheadsteve: I love that episode of the Simpsons with "The big book of British teeth"
  • 10 0
 @powderturns: It's the Fyre Festival of drivetrains
  • 1 0
 Now the bike will be test by alliens in area 51
  • 1 0
 This is not gonna end well!
  • 1 0
 @rudders20: it's the only thing I can say to my British friend that will shut him up (temporarily) Smile
  • 11 0
 @rudders20: fewer Brits ride yetis so we assume you have less dentist and therefore bad teeth.
  • 10 1
 @rudders20: Oddly enough the "Tooth Brush" was invented down in the southern part of the USA. Because had it been invented in the north it would have been called the "Teeth Brush"
  • 52 6
 Well that’s just great. Powder is my favorite mag ever. Bought by the same brand that spews garbage like the Nat Enquirer.

Wasn’t the Nat Enquirer the original Fake News?

Powder March issue- POW is no more- Global Warming is a Hoax!
  • 11 0
 Sad!
  • 8 0
 I mean isnt the purpose the the Nat Enq to fabricate personalities for favored individuals and trash the reputations of those in disfavor? or am i over thinking it?
  • 33 0
 They gutted Surfer,laying off 50% of it's staff immediately. Factory Media did the same with the Uk action sport print media a few years ago.That's how we lost Dirt (mtb),Ride (bmx),Dig (bmx),Sidewalk Surfer (skate),Snowboard Uk,Whitelines (snowboard),Boards (windsurf) ,Onboard (snowboard) and others.
The Dew Tour contract is up for renewal with less than zero hope of it continuing.
  • 4 0
 I subscribed to Ride BMX mag as a kid and man was it great! Always wondered what happened to them. Super let down. Not cool
  • 10 1
 fuck! factory media .
  • 2 0
 You might be spot on about the Dew Tour
  • 6 1
 @watchman which of those did you subscribe to? The long and the short is no one is willing to pay for content anymore. This is leading to mass consolidation and the concentration of influence in a small number of hands.
  • 9 0
 The Albion was the greatest bike magazine ever published. A read about bmx'ers the personalities, the people. Not bikes, events or the latest fad. 100% financed by ads from actual bmx companies. Printed in super high quality And FREE to the end consumer. Shame they became too busy to run it. Print media could learn a lot from the Albion
  • 3 0
 @Cyberhatter: I had a bit of a magazine addiction.Religiously ,every month I used to buy Boards,Windsurf,Ride,Dirt (and Grip before that) and Snowboard Uk in the winter.If they all came out together I'd have to read some of them in the newsagents (until I got thrown out) as I could'nt afford them all together.
Noj...have you seen The Ride Journal? Very much in the same vein as The Albion (which was heckin awesome).
  • 7 0
 I miss Dirt. I was a subscriber for over ten years. I looked forward to it even with having internet spoilers. Great pictures, it was nice to try drag out reading it over a week.
  • 3 0
 You've got to wonder about the thinking behind buying up publications just to close them down. I never understood the logic behind it and with Factory Media going bust last year apparently the advertisers and paying customers didn't either. I also miss Dirt enormously.
  • 2 0
 @Fix-the-Spade: I know a couple of people who edited the magazines which were subsequently shelved.They have no idea either (and it wasn't for a lack of trying either).
  • 1 0
 Surfer and Surfing were always my favorites. I have a collection in my attic that goes back to the mid 80’s
  • 2 0
 @watchmen: ive still got grip mag ,all two or three issues and all of dirts back issues to no1,used to buy ride here and there too ,used to read side walk surfer and white lines in the shop ha ha mainly for the pictures .
  • 2 0
 @nojzilla: 100% agree with you there. Albion was so good. Dig is the best out there nowadays in terms of BMX media.
  • 2 0
 @trjoedave: for what it’s worth Ride still has a website.
www.ridebmx.com
  • 1 0
 @kermode: cheers! Had no idea
  • 1 0
 Came here to mention the factory media scandal. Whitelines was so good. Subscribed for years. And then overnight it went from a source of irreverent humour and inspirational and beautifully photographed travel stories, to a website full of listicles. A real shame.
  • 1 0
 @watchmen: The demise of factory media was a blow indeed. However just to correct you, Snowboard UK was not among them. That magazine was published by Freestyle and was killed off by an idiot, two-faced publisher who was good at making enemies instead of colleagues.
  • 26 1
 the guys name is david j pecker. i don't think the national enquirer could make something like that up.
  • 15 5
 He apparently lives up to his name, too - he's involved in the whole Trump / Stormy Daniels / who knows what else scandal.
  • 21 2
 @slumgullion: it's a great time to be an american
  • 6 1
 Yes, he recently agreed to work with Mueller about multiple Catch and Kill stories for Trump and possibly his family
  • 15 0
 @flipoffthemonkeys: If it's any consolation, it's also a great time to be British.
  • 6 3
 @slumgullion: yes, they bought Stormy Daniels story promising to publish it, like they did the John Edwards story. But instead they sat on it at the request of Trump and possibly with payment from Trump while they had exclusive rights so she could not publish with any other outlet.
  • 4 0
 I only came here for a Pecker joke. Win.
  • 7 1
 @metaam: the bottom's really fallen out of the national pride market lately. A good time to be a citizen of nowhere.
  • 2 3
 @BenPea: maybe the chinese are proud of themselves? i was in florence a couple weeks ago-the chinese are all over that place...
  • 1 0
 @BenPea: nah, it's mainly just the loud kids with the the mic..the talk really fast so it sounds like I'm really smart types.
Just noise
  • 14 2
 I'm a especially concerned for bike, their writing and content has always been so good and I hope that doesn't change!
  • 19 6
 Meh, it was supremely better a decade ago. I wish I understood the politics behind the masthead changes over the years. I bought the first year + off the newstand as a kid w/ friends, back when print was the only option. Was a steady subscriber from back when we mailed in postcards. I quit when they started taking eBike ads.
  • 6 1
 @bubbrubb: so what are you doing on pink bike?
Print media is struggling to stay afloat and advertisers are advertisers.

If you don’t like the reviews, editorial or even just having to pay for a page that is totally cool. But I don’t know of too many (we’ll... any) mountain bike content providers that haven’t made a deal with the e-bike devil.
  • 1 0
 Is there anyone good left at Bike? Sucks, but they just didn't make the transition to digital.
  • 9 0
 @dthomp325: Mike Ferrentino.
  • 2 2
 @NickBit: I’m not allowed to read what I want? Last I checked PB was free online content, I was PAYING for a BIKE sub. Print may be struggling but it’s not my fault.
  • 1 0
 Yea bike mag is no bueno anymore. When Ferrenstinko leaves it’s done. Once upon a time it was a great publication.
  • 1 0
 @dthomp325: actually they did. They have this app in istore and googleplay where you can subscribe annually.
  • 2 1
 @bubbrubb: I subscribe to digital Bike for $1.99 / year. Why would you not pony up for that?!
  • 3 0
 I subscribed to Bike for many years. The quantity and quality of content shrank to the point where it became useless to me. They offered me a 2 year subscription for something like $10-$20 and I declined. As RedHurricane mentions, once Ferrentino leaves, its done.
  • 1 0
 @bogey: because I prefer print. In addition to my paper I had the digital sub. I just don’t like holding a brick ipad to read. While the photography was always excellent, I didn’t feel like the editors were speaking to me anymore. The magazine seemed thin at times. To each their own, but when they started taking eBike $ it made my decision easy. Pinkbike is free content, I’m not going to take free content then tell them what to do. I’m also not going to buy a mountain biking magazine only to have them try to sell me mopeds and dickpillls. It’s just not my demographic. Have you guys seen how the guys ride bikes? Compare their YouTube channel to PB’s. The production level of their channel has been sub par and barely audible at times.
  • 1 0
 @RipplingOverCanyons: yep. same here.
  • 5 0
 @dthomp325: Lots of good people left at Bike...
  • 2 0
 Bike has covered the IMBA and Wilderness controversies very well. I hope that someone takes up that mantle if need be.
  • 2 0
 Agreed. Still love Bike. Grimy Handshake and Butcher Paper are fun reads every month.
  • 13 1
 Bring back Decline magazine!!
  • 5 2
 Dirt was way better.
  • 7 0
 Whether you appreciated or subscribed to Bike or any Transworld titles or not, this news should be alarming to everyone. Why? Because what is really at stake here is the future of interesting, thought provoking, ride-inspiring quality features decorated by beautiful photography. Whatever the reasons behind the demise of print —lack of advertisers, shrinking readership, ADD, etc— the advertising spend online is spread too-thinly to support genuinely original content on any one site. With the online sites lacking funds to properly pay for cutting edge features and their photos will ultimately mean the demise of those kind of features — ie, we just wont see those same in depth features, incredible adventure pieces or delicious photographic endeavours any more. We are heading towards a bike-media world defined by the lowest common denominator or at least the replication across every website of the same, identical content produced from a select few sponsored shoots or trips .
As a photographer I see this first hand and I've seen how it has been building, with increasing numbers of publishers starting to insist on "world exclusive" content (often along with full, and eternal rights to reproduce and even sell-on that content) while offering such a slim payment it doesn't even cover the costs of a photographer going to shoot that feature, trip or story.
Whether you believe that people no longer want to hold print in their hands, or whether you see the virtues of a magazine like Bike that has long been a stalwart of digging beneath the veneer of our sport to bring us tough provoking articles supported by the worlds best bike photographers, we all need to be aware of what now lies around the corner for our mountain bike media; a very dull, swipe-right, world of indifference that does little to invoke, amaze or inspire.
Just sayin'.
  • 7 1
 Noob here! Why do these big conglomerates buy up profitable companies and then gut them with a rusty knife until their worthless? Is it some weird tax bankruptcy loophole or money laundering scheme?
  • 13 0
 They are buying them cheap right now as a job lot.The acquisition boosts the share price of the parent company while they asset strip their new purchases and sell on the few profitable ones.They ruthlessly cut costs on the rest (aka staff) and consolidate production (staff writers 'write' for all titles) until the point they are nonviable .By which time they've had their monies worth out of them and they finally sell off the mailing lists/customer profiles and title name.
Isn't capitalism great?
  • 4 0
 Look up "Private Equity"
  • 1 0
 As alluded to by the others, if you have a bunch of similar companies, owning them under a single roof allows you to "centralize" some of the cost centers like accounting and HR etc. Can save a bundle if done right. Prob isn't tho
  • 3 0
 @watchmen: hum, I understand the idea of taking over similar companies and making those companies more profitable under one umbrella. Just seems like a lot of these accusations are a gut and let die job, doesn’t make much sense economically on the surface. Having refinanced 460 million debt, I’m just thinking they might right off debt through bankruptcy of these new companies. Though an evil accountant bro might chime in for fun.
  • 6 0
 They axed the Transworld Motocross magazine, website and race series. I'm guessing no titles in the portfolio are safe since motocross was the most profitable of the group.
  • 4 1
 There is a chance TWMX gets sold to someone else and lives. a chance... Not optimist about Bike. Print is brutal right now.
  • 1 0
 Yeah shits wack.
  • 1 0
 I keep posing this question, but I've heard this statement of "motocross (or TWMX) was the most profitable"....does anyone have proof of this? or a source? And people that say this, do realize that 'profit' and 'revenue' are 2 entirely different things-right? I am not denying or know anything, but, seems to me there was some hefty expenses, perhaps.
  • 1 0
 @stikmanglaspell: some random guy on the vitalmx forums said it so it must be true.
  • 2 0
 Hope they survive.
  • 3 0
 Ive been a very happy bike magazine subscriber for about 5 years...along with dirtrag and freehub. Hope they stick around, the subscriptions are worth every bit of what they cost, honestly perhaps even a bit more than they cost. I may be an old fashioned 31 year old, but books and magazines made of paper mean the world to me. Id give up most of the rest of my material posessions before my physical books and magazines
  • 2 0
 Dirt Rag forever!!! I look forward to every issue. It's a no bullshit straight up MTB culture gem. They always show up at Biketoberfest and Sea Otter and keep the vibe easy. I've got 25+ years of issues in the guest room book shelf. Freehub is a great magazine as well. One can only hope they have as good a run as Dirt Rag...
  • 2 0
 Somebody reads magazines anymore? I used to subscribe to Bike and MBA, and go buy Decline and MBUK at B&N or Borders every month: I just never read magazines anymore, and I'm old. If a sucker like me is cashed out of the form, it doesn't say anything good for the industry as a whole.
  • 5 0
 When your CEOs last name is Pecker, you know you going places!
  • 4 0
 That pile of magazines in the photo took me back to my teenage years. I had a similar size stack hidden in my bedroom.
  • 5 0
 Content of the ones hidden in your bedroom was a little different though I bet
  • 1 0
 Printed content in magazines and newsprint is a dying industry. I used to do tons of machining related to the printing trade. Not so much now , everyone is screaming for digital format. How ,much longer before society gives up hand writing and printing 100%.
  • 2 0
 couldnt tell you the last time i bought or even read something in print other than a book. Magazines and news papers with their temporary purpose and lifespan dont make sense in anything other than digital. Sad for sure. Lets not even talk about letters postcards and photographs. - or even money. Printing is dead already.
  • 1 0
 Here we are one week later and AMI has attempted to extort Jeff Bezos, the richest man in modern history. In so violating their immunity agreement with the southern district of New York for federal campaign finance violations.

So is Pinkbike interested in buying all these brands in the fire sale?

Media empire time here folks!!
  • 6 2
 Penthouse and Playboy too?
  • 4 0
 Is this the end of Bike mag?
  • 2 1
 I think they have been on the outs for a while. Why buy the magazine when it’s all on their website and on YouTube?
  • 1 0
 Sad but likely.
  • 4 0
 The 80s called. Said Print is dead like the Video did to the Radio Star.
  • 2 0
 National Enquirer? The first magazine cover will read, "All bike manufacturers agree to an industry standard for bike parts. No more proprietary parts".
  • 3 0
 Out of all the people shedding tears for these publications, how many of you actually subscribe to these mags ?
  • 2 0
 Bike Mag, as in the Bible of Bikes Bikemag? Is that the same one? Man that sucks if they are getting slashed like others
  • 2 0
 Yep that one.
  • 2 0
 Thought they called him norby....?
  • 2 0
 Guess this explains why BIKE won't take a renewal on my subscription.
  • 2 0
 Good bye Ridemonkey, hope you see Hcor up there
  • 2 1
 someone buy five ten and MSGA!! Adikdas blows
  • 1 0
 What has addidas done poorly regarding 510? Genuinely curious. I like 510 a lot. They also make the best kids shoe on the planet
  • 1 1
 @Svinyard: customer service. literally spent all of January trying to return my kids christmas shoes. Sizing was way off. Took a week to respond at first, then told me it fell out of 30 day return period (bought on black friday) asked if I could just swap for a bigger size was told no. Returned the shoes for a refund, never got my refund. Called they said I could get a "credit", but no black friday pricing. Didnt get. Filed BBB complaint they told BBB that complaints have to be filed in a different f*ckin state or some crap. Still waiting. Since my first email to Adidas on Christmas day until now, Ive received a total of ONE email from them. And I sent 24. I will NEVER buy their shoes again.
  • 1 0
 @owlie: try going to your local 5.10 dealer/LBS. I worked for a shop that sold 5.10 last year and we regularly helped out customers that had issues like yours. Worth a shot at least! Best of luck!
  • 1 1
 @owlie: dude don't buy online!
Full disclosure I bought some Giro on clearance from Jenson for my kid and size was spot on.
  • 1 0
 @fruitsd79: Wait, do as I say, not as I do? Finding youth Sam Hills in town aint gonna happen.
  • 1 1
 @owlie: I try to support local if I can but 50 percent off was too good.
  • 1 0
 Hoping Transworld MX will make a comeback.
  • 2 0
 MAGA Wink
  • 1 0
 RIP print media.
  • 1 0
 Is it 29+ compatible?
  • 1 0
 Isnt print media dead?
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