Active Interest Media acquired by Firecrown...

Active Interest Media (AIM) just sold off their marine holdings to Firecrown. This is the 2nd acquisition of AIM's marine media in recent years. Not a good sign! Firecrown is buying entire magazine groups in both the aviation and marine sectors, likely because they can be acquired for low net multiples. In years past, these mags would have commanded much higher multiples with premiums on circulation, subscribers, brand recognition, etc.

https://marineindustrynews.co.uk/aim-sells-marine-portfolio-to-us-publisher/

The automotive and aviation industry abandoned print years ago but the marine industry has been slow to let go. With print fading away, most magazine websites have not been well-received and not just in the marine industry, but every transportation sector. These are the titles Firecrown purchased...

• Boating: Boating, Soundings, Wakeboarding, Boaters University
• Yachts: Power & Motoryacht, Yachting, Yachts International, Passagemaker, Trawlerfest
• Fishing: Salt Water Sportsman, Sport Fishing TV, Anglers Journal
• Sailing: Sail, Sailing World, Cruising World, Helly Hansen Regatta Series
• Marine B2B: Soundings Trade Only

It looks like Firecrown is planning to focus on the digital aspects of the titles, but it’s a challenging environment. Enthusiast sites don’t produce magazine-like revenue. I hope Firecrown can help educate the marine industry on the value of visibility with niche-focused sites. Hopefully they blaze a digital advertising trail making our jobs at YF not only easier but maybe more profitable. Yacht builders have been relying on social media to drive traffic, but they are overlooking that half of the world's population doesn’t use social media, but 100% of them use search engines.

I think there is a future for the magazines, but not in print. It’s in the titles. People tend to click on recognizable names in search results. It will be interesting to see if they can bridge the gap from print to digital but they may be overlooking a shift in consumer sentiment... people trust their peers.

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An enlightening article on the acquisition. Firecrown's approach to increase monetization is "Content to Commerce" which is essentially Pay to Play. These are the same tactics magazines have been using for years, hence their continuing demise.

https://loosecannon.substack.com/p/14-of-americans-major-boating-magazines