FLYING Acquires Plane & Pilot Mag - Cont'd Consolidation in GA or Publications Dying or Both?

[1980Mooney]

FLYING announced that it acquired Plane & Pilot Magazine.  Plane & Pilot will dumb down and focus only on Piston GA. 

https://www.flyingmag.com/flying-acquires-plane-pilot-magazine/

As you might expect they try to put a positive spin on it. -  They are claiming that piston GA is making a "robust comeback".  The production numbers compared to fleet attrition are flat-line at best.  There is no subscription support for competing stories or competing reviews of GA products.  GA advertisers are not going to support both.  It is also a function of the reduced popularity of publications that are also struggling with higher costs. 

IFR Magazine acquired IFR Refresher in 2021 and combined the two which IFR Refresher ceasing to exist

Textron (Cessna) acquiring Beechcraft has not breathed any new life into Beech GA pistons - their production continues to shrink.

MAPA is trying to stumble back into publication but most seem skeptical

It is probably only a matter of time for Plane & Pilot to be combined into Flying.

"FLYING and Plane & Pilot have been the top two independent aviation magazines for decades. While the brands have been viewed as competitive at times, the focus of the two magazines has also differed. 

FLYING is an aspirational brand, featuring the latest and greatest in general aviation, spanning the most advanced light sport models to the fastest business jets. Plane & Pilot, on the other hand, has had deeper coverage of the piston community and the world of recreational and private pilots."

[EricJ]

I cancelled my Flying subscription when they went in the inexplicable direction of increasing printing and production costs with thicker paper stock and less useful content and more glitzy pics.    I really don't get it, so it clearly isn't aimed at me as part of their demographic.   

[laytonl]

1 hour ago, EricJ said:

I cancelled my Flying subscription when they went in the inexplicable direction of increasing printing and production costs with thicker paper stock and less useful content and more glitzy pics.    I really don't get it, so it clearly isn't aimed at me as part of their demographic.   

Same here.

[amillet]

I too canceled Flying.  Half the content is an advertisement for the owners new residential fly in development 

[DonMuncy]

I feel the same way

[GeeBee]

Flying magazine is now "Town and Country" with wings. 

 

[carusoam]

Flying was the magazine I got for free when going commercial…

It was all about joining the aviation world with a ton of dough…

You read it enough, you start thinking every one has a ton of dough… and it’s normal.  Like buying a new car.

 

For more way out there reading… get the AOPA ‘turbine’ edition…

It’s probably good for turbine pilots… but most of it is twin jets.

the turbine edition is the regular mag with a few extra pages tucked in… no extra cost.

Best regards,

-a-

[MikeOH]

Yup, I cancelled Flying many years ago.

[Jim Peace]

On 4/3/2023 at 9:41 PM, amillet said:

I too canceled Flying.  Half the content is an advertisement for the owners new residential fly in development 

Where is that going to be?  Never heard of it. Have not read flying magazine in decades. 
 

I do okay in life and I can’t afford anything I see in those magazines other than an occasional headset. 
 

clearly not for the average GA pilot. 

[amillet]

https://www.flyingmag.com/new-billion-dollar-fly-in-luxury-resort-and-residential-community-planned-for-sequatchie-valley-tennessee/
 

[A64Pilot]

On 4/4/2023 at 10:10 PM, carusoam said:

Flying was the magazine I got for free when going commercial…

It was all about joining the aviation world with a ton of dough…

You read it enough, you start thinking every one has a ton of dough… and it’s normal.  Like buying a new car.

 

For more way out there reading… get the AOPA ‘turbine’ edition…

It’s probably good for turbine pilots… but most of it is twin jets.

the turbine edition is the regular mag with a few extra pages tucked in… no extra cost.

Best regards,

-a-

In truth for years the big buck GA like Gulfstream has been growing by leaps and bounds, while piston GA is dead and has been for decades. It’s dead guys face facts, it’s just not done rotting yet. There is HUGE money in GA, but it’s not piston anything.

I never did read the mags for long, I mean how many times can you review the “new” Cessna 182 that is only different in interior and avionics and heavier.

What can they possibly write about month after month?

 

[EricJ]

9 hours ago, 1980Mooney said:

They just acquired 5 more GA publications/ media brands.  I can't think of anything that they don't own.   IFR Magazine was a consolidation a couple of years ago of IFR Refresher.   

FLYING Acquires 5 Major Aviation Media Brands

 

FLYING Media Group, the parent company of FLYING magazine, is acquiring the aviation publication assets of Belvoir Media, which includes AVweb.com, Aviation Consumer, Aviation Safety, IFR Magazine, and KITPLANES. Here's what that means for readers.

Given what they've done to FLYING since they acquired it, that's bad news for those publications imho.

[GeeBee]

Aviation Consumer was the last "no BS" publication. Now they are going to be pushing the latest "must have" POS like everyone else.

Comparing it to another publication niche, guns. Years ago every magazine was screaming I needed a 10mm semi-auto. It was "wunderbar" over the old tried and true 45ACP. THEN I was told, I need a 40 S&W because it was "waaay better" than the 10mm even though there is no ballistic difference between the two out of the barrel or down range. Neither are much different than the ol 45 ACP that still punches bigger holes and deeper penetration than the new kids. Good enough for John Moses Browning in 1904 and Chesty Puller in 1944, good enough for me in 2024. Which is why magazines are going broke. There is nothing new despite their hype. 

Equally so, we are told by Flying we need a new million dollar Panthera which is really just a Bravo with more gear doors to rig and break. No real discernible performance advantage and for 750K differential I can put up with a few less doors and less oohs and ahh on the ramp..

[exM20K]

Craig Fuller was interviewed on a sporty’s podcast a couple of mo the ago. He talked about the Flying Magazine purchase in terms of the content library being the most valuable piece along with the brand.

This is not so different than Sportys buying the rights to Air Facts. But Sportys is using content for inbound marketing, which I think is smart. Content for content’s sake is hard to monetize.

Probably the vast catalog of Aviation Consumer content is what he’s after. While it’s not obvious to me how he will make it all pencil, he doesn’t appear to me to be a dumb guy, and if he makes a go of it, then I think that’s a win for all of us in GA. It is also not obvious that the current Belvoir / AvWeb model could continue, especially with Sporty’s turning into a content engine.

Things change..
-dan

[Tim-37419]

I am local and a lot of us know Craig or in my case, know of him. I think he is well intentioned and wants to help the community, he sold his previous business and it seems everything he is doing now is aviation related. Along with the publications, he is also building a fly-in community in middle Tennessee.

 

We had a local private airport in which the owner decided he wanted to sell to a land developer. He kicked everyone out of their hangars and closed the airport to public use. Due to some land lease issues the sale was halted in the courts. The airport stayed closed to the public. At a recent pilots meeting, I heard Flying (or maybe Craig himself) has bought the airport with the intention of having their offices there and reopening it for GA. 

 

Not all of the above is first hand knowledge but that's what I hear amongst us gossipy pilots. 

[midlifeflyer]

"

"Consolidation in GA or Publications Dying or Both?"

I think pieces of both. Like all other print media including general magazines and newspapers, the demographic for subscription-based services is declining in the face of the free availability of stuff online. It's not even about quality. 
 

As many of you know, I write for IFR. I suspect that like any purchase of an existing business, short term changes will be limited. I have no inside information about what any of it means in the long run, 

[Echo]

I find ALL the GA That is model and enthusiast specific RIGHT HERE.  Mooneyspace killed the magazine star…;)

[Echo]

Loved Consumer Aviation for its reviews of avionics. I am always behind the whiz bang stuff, but a guy can dream…

[Echo]

We have great airframes and passion to upgrade and fly. Good for private jet guys. Keep runway’s open pumping jet A. I’m good in a Mooney.

[Oscar Avalle]

I was always looking forward to the new editions of Flying and Plane and Pilot. When I started to learn to fly I got introduced to IFR, IRF refreshe, Aviation Consumer etc. I subcribed to all of them and loved them. Overtime they became more and more repetitive. I still read them... but the only one I really look forward to receiving is Aviation Consumer... the rest, well most of their content is out of my league... 

oscar 

[toto]

On 7/25/2023 at 7:52 PM, GeeBee said:

Aviation Consumer was the last "no BS" publication. Now they are going to be pushing the latest "must have" POS like everyone else.

I subscribe to both Aviation Consumer and IFR, and I love the fact that they’re “no BS” on crappy paper and without being loaded with glossy photos. I feel like I’m paying for the content rather than the printing. 

I had a Flying subscription for many years, and I dropped it when they went to the new print format. Seemed like their priorities were diverging from mine. 

[BKlott]

My dad subscribed to all the aviation magazines back in the 1960s. Flying, Air Progress, Plane & Pilot, Private Pilot and AOPA Pilot. I read them all, cover to cover. Of all the aviation mags, I liked and miss Private Pilot the most.

[Parker_Woodruff]

It looks like they just purchased an aircraft lending business, too.

https://www.flyingmag.com/flying-acquires-aircraft-lender-sky-allies-capital/