Boating magazine up for sale

[Glenn]

According to AdAge.com, Boating magazine is for sale. The website reported that the magazine is being sold with other enthusiast titles owned by Hachette Filipacchi Media US, a subsidiary of the French company.

Boating has a circulation of 175,000, making it the world's largest subscriber-based boating magazine. Like other US boating magazines, Boating has seen its ad revenues decline steadily over the last two quarters. Ad pages from January through the April issues fell 48.7 per cent compared to the previous year.

According to the AdAge story, Hachette has been cutting expenses at the media conglomerate since the arrival of CEO Alain Lemarchand last fall. The media investment bank DeSilva & Phillips has been hired to find new owners for the enthusiast stable.

Hachette also publishes Popular Photography, Flying, Elle, Car and Driver, Road & Track and Woman's Day magazines. The story said it was unclear whether the magazines were being sold as a group or individually. A Hachette spokeswoman told IBI that the company had "no comment" on the sale.

[bilgerat]

Like other US boating magazines, Boating has seen its ad revenues decline steadily over the last two quarters. Ad pages from January through the April issues fell 48.7 per cent compared to the previous year.

No surprise there. Recreational boating is in a nosedive. Right here in New Jersey two of the premier yacht builders in the US - Viking Yacht and Ocean Yacht - are virtually shut down. Pleasurecraft has been hurting here for a few years now. High diesel prices last year and the economy this year have all but killed it.

If anything, the trend will be towards smaller craft for years to come.

[drmnbig]

I look for recreational boating to come back up some this year.  With fuel prices half of what they were a year ago it makes trips to the lake much more feasable.  Where I live we are an hour from the nearest lake where you can run an outboard.  This meant $80 round trip last year.  Now it's a $40 trip or less.  I for one will be making many more trips.  I just dropped the boat off at the shop yesterday and talked to the owner.  They said they have already surpassed the amount of business they had by June of last year.  I'm going for the glass half full!!!!!