Interesting news for American motorcycle enthusiasts, as nearly all your printed two-wheeled information is set to come from a singular company in the coming future. Already the recent purchaser of Cycle World, Bonnier Corporation seems poised to control a significant portion of the two-wheeled industry’s printed and online press.
Inking a two-way deal with Source Interlink, Bonnier Corp. receives in the transaction Motorcyclist, Sport Rider, Dirt Rider, Motorcycle Cruiser, Hot Bike, Baggers, Super Streetbike, Street Chopper, and ATV Rider. In exchange, Source Interlink receives the TransWorld extreme and urban sports properties (except TransWorld Snowboarding), as well as Sound + Vision magazine.
According to Bonnier, no layoffs will occur as a result of the transaction (for now, at least), and the reshuffling of publications seems to be more of a sign that the two publishers aim to move away from having diverse horizontal holdings (a publication title in each niche market), to a more vertical structure (owning multiple titles in select market niches).
It is not clear how Bonnier Corporation will “create business efficiencies” within its new two-wheeled acquisitions, it is of note however that consumers will be faced with getting the bulk of their printed motorcycle news from a single corporation.
While our immediate concern with this news is the monopolization of the motorcycle media market, consumers should also be apprehensive about a singular voice now dominating what used to be a variety of two-wheeled perspectives. We’re sure the parties involved disagree with those two statements, but as always, time will tell.
Source: Bonnier Corp.
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