While the future of America's biggest sports magazine remains an open question, its second-biggest will soon call it quits on print entirely. ESPN The Magazine will shutter its monthly print edition after September's annual Body Issue, its parent company announced Tuesday morning, ending a 21-year run. "Consumer habits are evolving rapidly, and this requires ESPN to evolve as well," read a brief statement from ESPN Tuesday afternoon, explaining that readers can expect much of the same content, just not in ink. "Our data shows the vast majority of readers already consume our print journalism on digital platforms, and this approach will maximize our reach and impact." The company left open the possibility of printing one-off issues in the future around special events, like the Body Issue, "in special, differentiated print formats.” Despite being showered in accolades under editor-in-chief Alison Overholt—who took over in 2016—maintaining a steady circulation of 2.1 million since 2012 (according to the Alliance for Audited Media) and reducing print costs by moving from a biweekly to a monthly publishing schedule at the start of 2019, the magazine has been losing money "for the past several years," according to Sports Business Journal, which first reported the news. Reps for ESPN didn't immediately respond to a request for comment on the future of the magazine's current staffers, though many on the editorial side are already working across both print and digital. "ESPN The... Continue reading at 'Folio Magazine'
[ Folio Magazine | 2019-04-30 00:00:00 UTC ]