12 December 2019

TEN PUBLISHING IS CLOSING 19 CAR MAGAZINE TITLES

TEN Publishing will shutter 19 of its 22 automotive magazines by the end of the year, leaving MotorTrend, Hot Rod and Four Wheeler as the only three titles that will continue to be published in print in 2020.

According to a memo sent to staff at MotorTrend Grouptitles going out of print include AutomobileLowriderTruck Trend and Vette, among several others.

“It was announced today that TEN Publishing will discontinue publishing 19 of its 22 automotive print titles by the end of the year,” wrote MotorTrend Group president and GM Alex Wellen in the memo. “I know this is difficult news, but I want to assure you that we remain committed to you and your pursuit to deliver quality automotive storytelling and journalism across all of our content platforms.”

MotorTrend Group, a joint venture formed in 2017 and majority owned by Discovery, Inc., comprises the digital and video businesses of the company formerly known as The Enthusiast Network, whereas TEN Publishing controls those brands’ print magazines. Under a licensing agreement, MotorTrend Group provides editorial and ad sales support to TEN, producing content for both MotorTrend Group’s digital platforms and TEN’s magazines.

“Simply put, we need to be where our audience is,” Wellen continued in the memo. “Tens of millions of fans visit MotorTrend’s digital properties every month, with the vast majority of our consumption on mobile, and 3 out of every 4 of our visitors favoring digital content over print.”

“While TEN Publishing will no longer print the following magazines,” he wrote, “[MotorTrend Group] will continue to offer our audiences and advertisers digital coverage for these discontinued print titles online,” adding that subscribers to the shuttered magazines will be offered digital subscriptions to MotorTrendHot Rod or Four Wheeler as well as MotorTrend‘s video streaming service.

The memo didn’t explicitly warn of impending layoffs at MotorTrend Group as a result of the changes at TEN, but did notify staffers of the creation of a one-time voluntary separation program, in which some editors and salespeople will be given the option to resign in exchange for “special separation benefits.”