BoxRec

looks like the end of the road for zoo and FHM magazine, http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/business-34845063

After reading this do you still think boxing news will still be around in 2020?

i myself brought every boxing news for over 20 years but i only buy it now and again now ,it used to be where you got your results from now you know instantly either through your phone or computer ,i still think BN will survive by having better journalists then what you get on the web ,i still like to get it before a big fight just to see who they pick to win and after especially if i haven't seen the fight .i see today the BN annual and it looked great with interviews with around about 20 fighters on their finest wins/ favourite fights i'll pick it up tomorrow the que was to long today .

Zoo's gone as well now lol bloody hell. I suppose things online like Shortcut and Vice are taking over (for their style and presentation).

I bought every boxing news from around 1980(odd) until sometime the design changed from the old type format to the colour design. I loved it when it was the old style. I have over 20 years of copies and when we moved i skipped them all, which was a big regret of mine. I wish I had kept them and advertised them individually in frames, would have made a nice birthday fight the week you were born.

Absolutely. Zoo and to a lesser extent FHM are glorified w*nk mags which have become progressively more embarrassing to buy as Zoo gets hidden away partially covered on shelves in mainstream news outlets. That and people tend to grow out of buying that type of magazine. BN I think will always have a loyal, even nostalgic fan base, with hopefully a lot of new fans to be added.

mimmy123 wrote:I bought every boxing news from around 1980(odd) until sometime the design changed from the old type format to the colour design. I loved it when it was the old style. I have over 20 years of copies and when we moved i skipped them all, which was a big regret of mine. I wish I had kept them and advertised them individually in frames, would have made a nice birthday fight the week you were born.

I've bought it since '87 and preferred the old black and white (and red) paper version, its great for the old timers feature to be brought back - its how you get to learn about the sport.

The Internet is killing magazines, whether it be boxing weeklies or jazz mags. Nothing beats a mag though in my opinion, and I especially wouldn't be without my copy of Boxing Monthly for quids.

It will struggle to survive another five years I'd imagine, regardless of the quality of content.

Most young people do not read magazines, so they will struggle to get new buyers.

Old buyers will increasingly turn to the web to get their news digest. There are a large number of quality online journalists whose articles can be read for free.

Ultimately it depends on the overheads associated with keeping it going and the determination of those involved.

I think it will be, simply because boxing will always have fans who want to read quality information about the sport. I’ve read it for 30 years and will continue to be a subscriber. I also see buying BN as something of a duty to help keep the game afloat.

I gave up reading Razzle and Escort quite some time ago and can see BN going the same way...

I believe that eventually all magazines will be available for download only.

reggaereggae wrote:I believe that eventually all magazines will be available for download only.

So you think newspapers will go the same way?

palooka wrote:

reggaereggae wrote:I believe that eventually all magazines will be available for download only.

So you think newspapers will go the same way?

I think it may take longer but it is likely

Well I hope Boxing News survives because it is back on form under Matt Christie and we are talking about a title with a pretty long and glorious history as well.....over 100 years old and respected around the world. But it might well be on-line rather than hot-off-the-press come 2020.

I come from a PR background and used to deal with the FHM journalists and at one point they kind of behaved like grand emperors because they had a huge circulation and exactly targetting people the brands really wanted to speak with.....they were arses to be frank!

They attended all the big PR events, got the best freebies and travelled first class...then would not write about it anyway

Not too many corporate tears shed about their demise I suspect; they had a bad rep for being arrogant and as the circulation started nose-diving more than few people enjoyed crossing FHM off the invite list.

I hope so, but I also hope it reverts back to the old "trade paper" format. Anyone else agree?

It will deffo be about, might be in a different format- internet but I hope not, cant beat having a magazine, no the same reading it from a computer screen.

The day I realised that an interesting fight like Steiglitz v Khomitski can go completely unmentioned in Boxing News, it was time to ditch.

I still enjoy the podcast although it can be hard work listening to John Dennon trying to get to his point sometimes.

I hope so too. I have bought it since school days in the 1980s, so have a lot of affection for it. Think it is going through a stage at the moment where it is trying to rediscover its niche, and I hope that it realises its strength is (or should be) a quality of writing and insight that most internet sites seem less interested in achieving (as they are more focused on getting news out there as quickly as possible). But I admire the job that the BN team do - getting the magazine out each week must be a very hard job.

Would like to hear Deserters thoughts on this given recent developments across all print media

ade the grenade wrote:I hope so, but I also hope it reverts back to the old "trade paper" format. Anyone else agree?

I agree, Ade though this years annual is excellent.

MacTavish wrote:I gave up reading Razzle and Escort quite some time ago and can see BN going the same way...

Reading? What, there was words in them ?

G0mez wrote:

MacTavish wrote:I gave up reading Razzle and Escort quite some time ago and can see BN going the same way...

Reading? What, there was words in them ?

it's hardly a fair comparison though, the Razzle Romp was as good as it could get before internet porn took filth to a whole new level but journalism went in the other direction...the online stuff was pure sh1te and a very pale reflection of the original print product....

I hope it stays. I only read the magazine format and have got it every week for years.

Danny Flexen speaks sense. The new kid George Gigney seems good aswell. John dennen is interesting aswell.

Matt Christie doing a good job. Loved the mickey vann bit last week.

For the first time ever, and I mean ever, I prefer Boxing Monthly to Boxing News. Part of that is that with the Internet we no longer need to wait for results, but BN is so bitty with too many distracting little articles about tweets, opinions and blah blah... But very little meat. I realise one has to move with the times but I think BN went too far in the 'yute' type approach.

All the old school boxing trade people I know barely read it.... And if numbers are up then they are doing the right thing from a business sense.... But I would like to see more quality articles. It's all a bit too easy to skip over and the longer articles lack depth.

I hope matt Christie will change things a little. Tris Dixon did modernise the publication, but I believe he went too far, and essentially turned the mag into a flimsy teenage girl's publication....

reggaereggae wrote:For the first time ever, and I mean ever, I prefer Boxing Monthly to Boxing News. Part of that is that with the Internet we no longer need to wait for results, but BN is so bitty with too many distracting little articles about tweets, opinions and blah blah... But very little meat. I realise one has to move with the times but I think BN went too far in the 'yute' type approach.

All the old school boxing trade people I know barely read it.... And if numbers are up then they are doing the right thing from a business sense.... But I would like to see more quality articles. It's all a bit too easy to skip over and the longer articles lack depth.

I hope matt Christie will change things a little. Tris Dixon did modernise the publication, but I believe he went too far, and essentially turned the mag into a flimsy teenage girl's publication....