Publications using the mail are required to publishing circulation numbers once a year. Quite frankly, I was surprised that HOT ROD had a paid print circulation of a little over 400,000 copies. More surprising was the number of deeply discounted subs at only 25,000. Finally, paid online subs were 25,000. While these numbers are certainly down, it appears that print is not quite dead yet. BTW, Bonneville coverage in the current issue is excellent with a HAMB friendly car on the cover.
Personally, I like magazines. Pick it up, read an article, or part of one, put it down and eventually it's still right there to refer back to if you hold onto them. I get a couple related to interests other than hot rods, Sport Aviation and Speedway Illustrated. I haven't perused a magazine rack recently so I don't know of a current, monthly hot rodding magazine. I'm not interested in some trendy hype magazine, just a magazine like the Rod and Custom from the days of old. Lynn
Of those 400.000 printed copies, it might be more telling if it was broken down into age groups. I suspect more print subscriptions are being read at the breakfast table with a side of prostate medicine than are being read in high school study hall. Personally, I don't recall ever reading a "magazine" online. But then, on my birthday, more money is spent on candles than on cake. This old dog only does old tricks. For now, the print numbers do look good, though.
I wonder what the highest number of paid subs was, and in what year? Of course it was pre internet, but was it in the 50's, 60's, 70's ,80's, 90's, 00's? My guess would be 60's or 70's.
I prefer print, but they have gotten so bad, I let all my subs lapse. I am Sure it is hard to compete with digital media.
When my father passed away, my Mom tried to cancel his various motorcycle and car magazine subscriptions, she said it was actually hard to do, they kept sending them even though she had stopped paying and said she didn't want to continue the subscriptions. I suspect they do that to keep the numbers up... haha!
The best selling issue was the 50th anniversary with Pete sitting on a stool surrounded by every cover on the floor. Over a million copies. During the sixties and seventies, circulation was in the high 700,000 and low 800,000. MOTOR TREND was usually over a 1,000,000 during that time.
On a recent visit to the US we swung by a couple of Barnes and Noble stores and the hot rod mags we very sparse. Even the hard bound books were very limited , a bit disappointing. So where do you go to get your magazine fix.?
Just this morning picked up the November issue of "Hot Rod Deluxe" but wouldn't put "hot rod" itself in the can for ass wipe. Stopped Street Rodder subscription also after 30+ years, but would put it in the can for ass wipe, there's no Sears catalog any more. Have subscribed to "Hot Rod Deluxe," as of this morning.
I still take Hot Rod. I also take magazines related to my other hobbies. I am old school also. Like to physically hold it and turn pages.
I had a subscription to Hotrod for over 40 years and let it lapse when the car coverage didn't have enough of what I was interested in. I usually thumb though the issue on the magazine rack now and see if there is enough there to warrant buying it. I pretty much do that with the rest of the rod rags now too though. Where I used to just toss them in the cart and buy them now I check to see if there is something I want to buy it for and I'm not a big fan of the ones that are primarily photos and no decent event coverage or how to articles.
It seems that the magazines are structured to appeal to people with attention deficit disorder. Instead of 2 to 4 page articles that actually have information, so much of magazines are what I'll call "sound bites" but in print. Three or four short little blips per page that mention something....but don't really "cover" anything. Lynn
I recently picked up a copy of Hot Rod at the airport. I quickly put it back after thumbing through it. Nothing in it for me! Getting like many of the cruise nights. All new stuff.
For probably 25 years I would visit a cigar store/newsstand on Tuesdays like clockwork, that was the day for new magazines to hit the shelves in the Chicago area. That store had a very large selection with just about any topic you could think of. When they closed the store I found a different store with a great selection but that one has been gone for a while too. As far as B & N or other chain booksellers go I think they gauge the market for magazines in their stores and will only carry transportation related titles that sell. In you visit a store in what would be considered the “high rent district” it’s doubtful you will find anything other than Motor Trend or the like. For hard cover, at least where I live online sales are the best for both availability and price.
Just received a monthly copy in my name. Didn’t subscribe or paid. Called Florida, they said it was real. Gave me the phone # of a promo company who did indeed give me a 1 year subscription hoping I’ll reup in 11-20. Not going to happen, but I thanked them.
Stopped buying the magazines but sometimes I miss all the ads from the parts vendors. Maybe they have come out with something I could use. Sent from my SM-T350 using The H.A.M.B. mobile app
I used to love getting my mags in the mail but after a while I realized I was done in 15-20 minutes and would go through it one more time looking for what I missed for another 5 minutes. Then I noticed that the tech articles were just long paid advertisements. That when I quit.
8,000 car magazines and the newest is from 1971. When I need to read about traditional hot rods I open a bin and read magazines from before they were tagged traditional
I like print, especially books. I can't imagine not having good stuff around to read over and over. Besides, good or bad, how ya going to share your ideas when there is no electricity?
******************************************************* This is what I find the most dismaying. You see a "low budget build" touted on the cover, and when you skim over the article, they're farming the car out to some shop, and buying the so-called "low budget" parts from some outfit that happens to also do mail order. There is no longer any experimentation, or finding salvage yard parts and improvements that are truly low budget. I suspect this is a big reason that the subscription numbers are down, along with real expense in print media. Roger
Not dead yet, but well on it's way. Sad really. I'll thumb through mags when at Barnes & Nobles but rarely buy anymore.
I stopped subscribing to Hot Rod years ago, then stopped Street Rodder a couple of years later. I recently started subscribing to Street Rodder again, but the cars in the magazine are more to my liking again.
I find guys buying the old hot rod, truckin, and street rod books I bring to swap meets to sell. They tell me it's the cost of the new books that is the problem. I always found the old books had more how to articles without having to buy parts from the magazine's advertisers.
The staff of the magazines back in the 19++'s were guys with genuine patina under their fingernails and full contact experience with the subject matter of the articles. They knew the business but probably weren't educated beyond their intelligence at a college. It's safe to say those guys are retired, have washed their hands of digital publishing but are most likely still doing what they love, tinkering with old iron. The current "publicists" are more likely to be products of the college system and have been employed at cooking/workout/home decorating/etc. magazines and catalogs in the past. I'm sure they are trying to feature articles of interest but don't really have the chops to nail them. The day is coming when somebody is going to build an electric-powered '32 and someone else will publish it without a cringe.
I agree @The Shift Wizard, but then the fault lies with the people hiring dullards with little or no mechanical aptitude, much less any idea of our hobby. There has to be a few, if not more, of a new crop of Gray Baskerville’s, Tom Senter’s, Jim Jacobs and the like out there. I still like print but most of what is available isn’t worthy of the bottom of the bird cage.
You must be self employed the guys I work with take at least 45 minutes. I like magazines I read and reread them. How are you going to work and read the tech on a laptop at the same time?