ABC launches footy mag
The ABC has launched a 120-page footy magazine ahead of the beginning of the 2012 AFL season.
Called ABC Football, the title’s editor is Gerard Whateley. The magazine will be published annually by News Custom Publishing.
Contents include analysis, fixtures, stats, team insights, player profiles and more indepth features.
The launch will put the magazine alongside ABC Cricket, the ABC’s 75 year-old cricket magazine.
How is this not an app or mobile site? Why is the ABC investing in magazines?
The times have changed Gerard. Kids no longer buy sports magazines.
What code is it covering…? Isn’t ‘football’ soccer now? Is it just AFL? Do Aussie rules even call the game football? I’m not entirely sure what I’m getting here.
I’m in two minds about the ABC doing side ventures like this – no doubt they want to be a Beeb-like operation with highly profitable magazines, but it’s not what the ABC is supposed to be doing. I am more concerned that no doubt this will be heavily promoted on ABC TV and radio, which makes a mockery of the whole ‘no commercials’ line for the ABC.
It’s time the ABC stopped stacking the deck in their favour: either they don’t run adverts or they do, and if they do they should run anyone’s.
They should keep one ABC channel as the core non-commercial ad-free channel and open up the rest to advertising.
I believe these ABC Mags are actually licencing deals with News Ltd. This was the case for JJJ magazine and I believe the Cricket one too.
I highly doubt ABC has any investment exposure nor operating exposure … sales would be done out of News and editors and payroll covered by them. They may use ABC talent as writers but this is all revenue for ABC, no exposure.
It’s different to BBC in that regard.
Good to see the ABC producing this magazine and I’m very interested in buying it. Excellent title too, it’s about time the ABC ended its monopoly of the term “football” for soccer and used it for the most popularly followed and oldest football code in this country.
P Scobie – Contrary to what you might want to think magazines are not dead. Far from it. We are ex marketers who have operated a newsagency for 18 months. Our sales are up 46% year on year. It’s a matter of matching titles and shelf locations to customer interests. We are creating a big youth market. They like variety not just apps and online. This ABC magazine is already a hit – especially with the young football obsessed tradies that frequently shop in our store. It ain’t over until the fat lady sings and she’s had a stomach bypass.
We used to call them “annuals”.
Female equivalent would be . . Seasonal Catwalk Collections, I suppose.
People of all ages like to have something to flick through in interface-less down-time.
My beef with most magazines is the reduced level of repetitive, dumbed-down content therein for an inflated price!