OTish: RIP Sporting News (Mag), 1886-2012
Wow. Even though I never really read TSN much, it is still kind of sad to see a publication that old close it's doors. Just a sign of the times I suppose seeing as how Borders Books store (an Ann Arbor based company) closed it's doors last year and now the print magazines are starting to go by the wayside.
December 12th, 2012 at 11:44 AM ^
From the Yahoo! article -
"TSN will still publish its college football yearbook, as well as yearbooks for NFL, baseball, college basketball, fantasy football and fantasy baseball, and the usual TSN content will be online. We wish the best for The Sporting News in its all-digital age."
I admit that I do like the printed yearbooks and have collected these for a long time, and this seems to indicate that these at least might still be around. Still, it is a bit of a shame that yet another magazine is leaving the increasingly bare physical newsstands of the world, especially one like "The Sporting News".
December 12th, 2012 at 12:27 PM ^
There are a number of reasons this makes sense. It's obvious to anyone who is paying attention that the physical newspaper/magazine model is undergoing what sports leagues call "contraction."
Everyone has a smartphone, a tablet, a laptop, a desktop, or any combination thereof. People aren't buying magazines and newspapers anymore, becuase most of the information is available online, and usually for free.
Magazines and newspapers never really made much of a profit on physical sales, but made most of their profit from advertising. In this era, the online model simply makes more sense. Consumers get the product free in many cases, and can choose to buy subscription products, while advertisers are still paying for "circulation," which is now measured in "clicks."
Another factor: the internet age has grossly eroded the average attention span. People are now two or three clicks away from whatever they want. The kind of in-depth reporting that people used to enjoy from Sporting News really isn't as important to the average consumer nowadays.
People want information now, and they want a forum or comment field in which to vent. They don't need to buy a magazine or a physical newspaper for either of those.
December 12th, 2012 at 10:25 PM ^