The magazines’ print business has diminished since Bonnier bought them from Time Inc. in 2007 as part of a $225 million deal for 18 enthusiast magazines. . . Ad pages fell 33.7% at Ski magazine last year, a steeper drop than the 8.2% decline across magazines as a whole, according to the Publishers Information Bureau. . . The deal, terms of which were not disclosed, also includes the rest of the company’s Mountain Group in Boulder, Colo.; . . . and Nastar, a recreational ski and snowboard racing program.
As one action media professional told old us on hearing the news: “Publishers have been using the “buy high sell low” method for the last dozen or so years.” And we’re guessing that trend is going to continue. It is odd, however, that Bonnier didn’t throw Transworld Media in with the purchase, but they probably believe they can milk a few more years of revenue out of the action sports industry before they need to dump it.
[Editors’ Note: We assumed everyone would know, but the previously unwritten irony here is that Times Mirror used to own both magazines and Clurman and Sellstrom used to run them. So yeah, they’re runnin’ their tread mill after you, their runnin’ their tread mill now.]
Now, thanks to a collaboration between Real Skateboards and Know Projects, Inc. (the minds behind Know Skateboarding) everyone can ad a little flavor to their social media photo posting with a new iPhone app called InstaReal. Just watch the edit, download the app, and start you can remind the world that people need to #mellowthefukout
Anyone who has ever watched the now classic episodes of Surfer Magazine TV (with host Sonny Miller) will remember the Opper Sports Productions name. Over the years founder Ira Opper (pictured right with Wingnut and a cameraman) has created loads and loads of action sports television programming. And now, the Del Mar Times has profiled Opper.
He was an early pioneer bringing beach volleyball and the concept of action sports to ESPN. He was one of the producers behind the first regional sports cable network that eventually became Fox Sports Prime Ticket. He has the largest surf film archive in the world — and he’s lived in Solana Beach for more than 30 years.
In celebration of the Thrasher Magazine Death Match(March 15, 2013), Converse is releasing 240 pairs of this “limited-edition” Converse Texas CTS, apparently. Guess Orange is a big color in Texas sporting or something.
Performance features of the Converse Texas CTS include a molded, multi-density Lunarlon drop-in sockliner for extra comfort; abrasion-resistant suede; traction rubber vulcanized sole; and full memory foam in the collar and tongue for a true customized fit. . . Only 240 pairs of the Converse Texas CTS will be exclusively available in Texas and will be sold at Nice Kicks, Tekgnar, and Fast Forward for a suggested retail price of $65.
If only these things had a little, inset, white star on the side. We’d be all over them. Follow the jump for the official details. [click to continue…]
Would someone really want a reality TV show about snowboarding park builders? Apparently, Chevrolet and Good Clean Fun think the amazing work that Snow Park Technologies does is worth it because they’re launching Mountain Movers sometime this spring on the National Geographic .
Reality Series stars Winter X Games course designer Chris “Gunny” Gunnarson and follows he and his crew as they construct massive, gravity-defying courses for Shaun White, Louie Vito, Danny Davis and more. Real-Life Drama of Athletes & Snow Course Designers in Harsh Conditions, Remote Locations, Battling Mother Nature in Epic Settings
Sound like a hit, right? We’re looking forward to a lot of Frank Wells up in this show, too.
Fuel TV, the cable channel experiment that hoped to prove that action sports television programing was a viable mainstream entertainment business, received the final nail in its coffin today (March 5, 2013) as Fox Sports Media Group not-so-humbly announced the August 17, 2013 launch of what they’re calling “the biggest sports cable network launch in history” called Fox Sports 1 (FS1).
A robust schedule of live events forms the backbone of FOX Sports 1’s programming from Day 1, with college basketball, college football, NASCAR, soccer and UFC all on tap between launch and year’s end. In fact, the schedule on Aug. 17 features live events morning, noon and night including a NASCAR Camping World Truck Series race from Michigan and “UFC on FS1 1” in prime time. In 2014, FSMG’s new rights agreement with MLB takes effect, bringing regular and postseason games to FS1.
Fuel TV will lose its name and become Fox Sports 2 (at least in the current plan). Let that be a lesson to all you action sports media biz devs: when it comes to the mass, mainstream’s appetite for sports programming no one cares about action sports.
We’ve ignored Adam Miller’s skateboard to skateboard circus trick backflip for a while now, but when Ad Age decides to call this 15 second edit out as the “lift” Tony Hawk’s Ride Channel needed we just couldn’t pass it up any longer. Turns out this board-to-board stunt is the Ride channel’s “most view video with 2.5 million views.”
A second Miller video, one that shows the skater practicing for the trick and falling repeatedly (a.k.a. a “slam video”), is the channel’s trending video this week with more than 300,000 views. Those videos helped Ride, which is backed by Tony Hawk, capture the No. 7 spot on our YouTube Tracker as well as the designation Biggest Mover of the Week. The channel views grew by 399% over last week.
You see where this leads, right? More whack edits of amazing circus stunts. Yay!
La Jolla Group CEO Toby Bost is making his network television reality show debut tonight (February 22, 2013) when the fashion executive goes undercover with his own employees on the CBS show Undercover Boss. On the show Bost will apparently be playing the part of O’Neill CEO (as opposed to Metal Mulisha CEO, or Rusty CEO, FMF CEO or The Berrics CEO) as he puts on a “medical school” drop out disguise and hangs out with employees he’s never met, you know, retail store employees, the guys in the warehouse, and the screen printers. Bost, who does amazing job as a nerdy middle aged worker, enjoyed the experience greatly.
“The UNDERCOVER BOSS experience was intense, and it certainly prompted me to remember the importance of little details,” said Bost. “The opportunity allowed me to examine our company from a new perspective and learn important lessons from our employees. In my position, you aren’t often able to replicate the retail experience through the eyes of an entry-level employee, for instance, so this allowed me to see the challenges they face every day. It also provided a closer view into our training and communications procedures that I wouldn’t have had the same access to otherwise.”
It will be interesting because the employees who work for La Jolla Group and don’t know who Bost is are probably some pretty entertaining people (or paid professional actors). The show airs tonight, February 22, 2013 at 8 PM on CBS. Check your local listings or follow the jump for the official word. [click to continue…]
Legendary skateboarding filmmaker Ty Evans has joined up with Brain Farm Digital (makers of The Art of Flight, That’s It That’s All, etc. . . ) for their soon-to-launch #BrainFarmSkate brand and a 2014 skateboard film release.
“We love the sport of skate and its such an important part of board sports culture that Brain Farm is so passionate about”, says Morgan. “Ty and I have been friends for quite awhile now and I could not have dreamed up a better situation than this. Ty is such a creative artist and he is hands down the best filmmaker in skate”, says Brain Farm CEO Curt Morgan.
Evans seems stoked to be for the crew with the coolest camera rigs ever?
“The timing could not be better in the industry and Brain Farm’s resources will allow me to take my filmmaking to the next level,” says Ty Evans. “I am really stoked for the future with Brain Farm!”
Seems like a great fit. For the official word, follow the jump. [click to continue…]
Active Interest Media, run by former Times Mirror CFO Efrem Zimbalist III, Time4 Media SVP Andy Clurman and former DC Shoes and Transworld Media CEO Brian Sellstrom, announced today that they have purchased Ski Magazine, Skiing Magazine, and Warren Miller Entertainment from Transworld parent company Bonnier Corp. for an undisclosed amount according to a story in AdAge.com.
