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Extreme
sports magazines
The extreme sports sector - which includes BMX biking, trials biking,
kitesurfing, mountain biking, skateboarding, snowboarding, surfing, windsurfing
and adventure sports such as canyoning - in the UK is dominated by smaller
publishers that have often been started by enthusiasts of a particular
activity. Some have expanded into other sports. One area the big publishers
control is mountain biking, where Future and IPC have the biggest-selling
titles. US magazines also distributed in UK. Few of these titles are more
than a decade old. Some established titles cover extreme sports, for example,
Ski & Board, published by the Ski Club of Great Britain,
covers snowboarding, as does Daily Mail Ski & Snowboard Magazine.
Most titles do not have ABC figures because their sales are too small
to make this economic (under 30,000). Some publishers' websites will quote
readership (term explained)
rather than sales. However, many have an international profile and some
are available in several languages. Sales may be higher outside the UK
than at home.
There are signs of consolidation in the sector, with, for example, biking
title Dig BMX being taken over by 4130 in October 2005. However,
given the alternative lifestyles of their creators, there is a danger
that such titles may not thrive in corporate environments. 4130 has taken
an arm's length approach, with the Dig BMX staff still running
the title from Glasgow.
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Part of three-way merger that formed Factory Media in December
2006. Based in Dorchester, Dorset. Titles include:
4130 profile
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328 Media is based in Lewes, Sussex. It launched Kiteworld
in May 2001 as a worldwide kiteboarding magazine. This now claims
to be distributed in more than 60 countries, six times a year.
328 profile
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Part of three-way merger that formed Factory Media in
December 2006. ASM has a pan-European business model whereby all its titles are
published in English, French and German and distributed in 74 countries.
- Onboard: launched in 1994. Claims to be Europe's best-selling
snowboard magazine. Available in English, French, German, Spanish
and Swedish, and under licence in Russian
- Surf Europe: launched in 1999. Published seven times a year
in five languages: English, French, German, Spanish and Portuguese
- Kingpin: launched in November 2002. Covers European skateboarding,
lifestyle and culture. Four language editions, nine times a year:
English, French, German and Spanish
- Cooler (quarterly): surfing for women. Launched summer 2005
ASM profile
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Titles include:
- Inline Skating
- Kitesurf 6 times a year since June 2001
- Powerkite 6 times a year since June 2003 for people
who fly sports kites
- Unity
skateboarding title eight times a year
- Wakeboard
& Waterski 8 times a year since June 2002
- Windsurf
published 10 times a year. Launched 1979. Has a digital subscription
for £21 ($38) compared with £30 for the print version
Contact: Arcwind Publishing, The Blue Barn, Tew Lane, Wootton,
Woodstock, Oxfordshire OX20 1HA, UK. Tel: +44 (0)1993 811181
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Cornwall & Devon
Media Back
to top
Cornwall and Devon Media is part of the Northcliffe local newspaper
group, which in turn is owned by the Daily Mail & General Trust
(profile), owners of the
Daily Mail. CDM publishes five weekly newspapers in the
two counties and runs websites, such as Cornwall
Today. It took over Wavelength, the UK’s longest
running surfing title, in 2004.
DMG profile
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DMG World Media is an international exhibition and trade publishing
company. Daily Mail Ski and Snowboard Magazine is published
from its Harrow offices
DMG profile
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In December 2006, Factory Media was formed as a holding
company for the merger of three specialist
sports publishers: Action Sports Media, Permanent Publishing
and 4130 Publishing. The merger brought together 12 UK
titles,13 international editions
and 13 websites. The titles under the Factory Media
umbrella are:
- Dig BMX (4130)
- Dirt Mountain Bike (4130)
- Document Skateboard (4130)
- Moto (4130)
- Ride BMX (4130)
- Cooler(ASM)
- Kingpin(ASM)
- Onboard (ASM)
- Surf Europe (ASM)
- The Surfer's Path (Permanent)
- Sidewalk (Permanent)
- Whitelines (Permanent)
4130 profile
ASM profile
Permanent profile
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Freestyle Group set up in 1999. Has had titles in adventure sports,
fish-keeping and men’s lifestyle sectors:
- BMX
Rider monthly founded in 2002
- Paddles monthly founded in 2002 for adventurous kayakers
and canoeists
- Scuba
World monthly founded in 1972
- Snowboard
UK eight issues a year (September-March). Founded in1991
However, it very much focuses on Boys
Toys, a lifestyle-oriented
gadgets title, which was found in 1999.
Freestyle profile
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Inherited Maximum Mountain Bike and Pro Cycling
when bought Cabal. Former closed and sold latter to Future.
Highbury profile |
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June 2006 launch for Huck, a five-times-a-year title
devoted to board sports - surf, skate and snow - with music, film
and the arts thrown in. Second issue was in September. The title
is published in English, French, German and Italian. Set to appear
in the US in 2007. Available at Borders, Waterstone’s, Harrods,
Selfridges and selected newsagents. In November 2006, the independent
publishers of music title Plan B, film magazine Little
White Lies and Huck announced a partnership to co-operate
on the commercial aspects of publishing. Contact: Huck Limited,
45 Rivington Street, London, UK EC2A 3QB. Tel : +44 (0) 207 729
3675
Huck
on MySpace
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Division of UK's largest publisher has Mountain
Bike Rider, Cycling Weekly and Cycle
Sport
in its portfolio. IPC controlled by AOL Time Warner, which also
controls Transworld (below)
IPC profile |
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Media Cell (closed
2004) Back to top
Part of The Media Cell, which had a media sales division and a creative
agency
- Adrenalin: English, German and French versions of this
surf, skate and snow lifestyle title
Media Cell profile
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Metropolis was established in 1994 and has an eclectic mix of consumer
and business titles that includes:
- Adrenalin
covers music, art, literature, film and fashion for people who
surf, skate and snowboard. It is a quarterly and was first published
in autumn 1999. It has English, German, French and Italian editions.
The title appears to have been used by three companies in recent
years: Alliance International Media (1997
launch); Media Cell (owners in 1999); and now Metropolis
Contact: Adrenalin, Metropolis International (UK), 140
Wales Farm Road, London W3 6UG, UK. Tel: +44 (0)870 737 8080
Metropolis profile |
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Extreme sports portal run by Permanent Publishing for its titles
and other publishers.
Permanent profile |
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Based in Newquay, Devon. Publishes three surfing titles:
- Carve: surfing magazine published eight times a year.
Launched 1994
- Surfgirl: quarterly with Carve. Launched in 2002
- Threesixty: specialises in bodyboarding. Published
11 times a year. Launched in 1981. Claims to be Britain's longest-running
surf magazine
Orca profile |
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Part of three-way merger that formed Factory Media in
December 2006. Permanent is based in Abingdon, near Oxford. It
was established in 1995 and set up a US arm in California in 2002.
- The
Surfer's Path claims to be the 'first (and, so far as
we know, the only) truly “green” surf magazine'. Has
UK and US editions. Published six times a year
- Sidewalk:
monthly for skateboarders
- Urban
Climber: covers bouldering, sport and competition climbing,
and gym climbing. Published six times a year
- Whitelines:
for snowboarders. Published six times a year
Also runs Network26.com, a gateway to the above as well as two
extreme sports titles from smaller publishers
Permanent profile
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British surfing magazine founded in 2004.
Contact: Pitpilot, PO Box 441, Newquay, Cornwall
TR7 2XQ |
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Scuz Mountainboarding
Zine Top
Scuz Mountainboarding was set up in 2003 'as a harmless
poke at the industry and the sport' by Welly and Andy W. It plans
to relaunch as as a more mainstream glossy Mountainboard
in 2007. Contact: Scuz Mountainboarding Zine, Cardigan Centre, 145-149
Cardigan Road, Leeds, LS6 1LJ.
Scuz Mountainboarding
Mountainboard
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Ski Club of Great
Britain Back
to top
Ski & Board, which is free four times a year to members
of the Ski Club of Great Britain, covers snow-boarding. The club
was founded in 1903.
Ski Club website
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Transworld Media is a US division of the magazine publishing behometh
AOL Time Warner, which also controls IPC (above)
in the UK.
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Extreme
sports titles (2005) Back to top |
Title
|
Publisher |
Launch
date |
ABC
sales Jan-Jul-2005* |
| Adrenalin |
Media Cell |
1977 (closed
2004) |
n/a |
| Business |
Transworld (US) |
1999 |
|
Carve
(surfing ) |
Orca
(8 a year) |
1994 |
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| Cooler |
Action Sports
Media
(4 a year) |
2005 |
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| Daily Mail Ski
& Snowboard |
DMG Media World
(5 a year) |
|
17,846 |
| Dig BMX |
4130
(6 a year) |
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| Dirt Mountain
Bike |
4130
(6 a year) |
1996 |
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| Document Skateboard |
4130
(9 a year) |
2000 |
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Kingpin
(skateboarding) |
Action
Sports Media
(9 a year) |
2002
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Kiteworld
(kitesurfing) |
328 Media
(6 a year) |
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| Maximum
Mountain Bike |
Highbury |
closed |
n/a |
| Moto
|
4130
(6 a year) |
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| Motocross |
Transworld (US) |
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| Mountain
Biking UK |
Future
(13 a year) |
1998 |
45,772 |
| Mountain
Bike Rider |
IPC
Country & Leisure
(12 a year) |
1997 |
37,333 |
| Network26.com |
web
portal run by Permanent Publishing |
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| Onboard
|
Action
Sports Media
(7 a year) |
1994
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| Pitpilot |
Pitpilot |
2004 |
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| Quad |
Transworld (US) |
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| Ride
BMX |
4130
(9 a year) |
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| Ride BMX (US) |
Transworld (US) |
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| Scuz
Mountainboarding (Mountainboard from 2007) |
Scuz
Mountainboarding Zine |
2003 |
|
Sidewalk
(skateboarding) |
Permanent
(12 a year) |
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| Skateboarding
(US) |
Transworld (US) |
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| Ski
& Board |
Ski
Club of Great Britain |
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21,005 |
| Snow |
Altitude
Media |
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34,300 |
| Snowboard
UK |
Freestyle |
1991 |
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| Snowboarding
(US) |
Transworld (US) |
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| Surf (US) |
Transworld (US) |
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| Surf
Europe |
Action
Sports Media (7 a year) |
1999
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| The
Surfer's Path |
Permanent
(6 a year) |
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Surfgirl
(free with Carve) |
Orca
(4 a year) |
2002 |
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| Threesixty
(bodyboarding) |
Orca
(11 a year) |
1981 |
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| Unity
|
Arcwind
(8 times a year) |
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| Urban
Climber |
Permanent (6
a year) |
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| Wakeboard
& Waterski |
Arcwind
(8 times a year) |
2002 |
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| Wavelength |
Cornwall
and Devon Media (11 a year) |
1981 |
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| What
Mountain Bike |
Future
(12 a year) |
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| Whitelines
(snowboard) |
Permanent
(6 a year) |
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| Windsurf
|
Arcwind
(10 a year) |
1979 |
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| *Source: Audit
Bureau of Circulations (ABC) |
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