SEA Magazine shutting down!

The friendliest place on the web for anyone who enjoys boating.
If you have answers, please help by responding to the unanswered posts.
See posts with no answers
That is too bad. Even though we live in the east now, I still subscribed to Sea.
 
Well that sucks. I've subscribed to SEA for many years and will miss it.
 
Have been receiving the mag for many months at no cost. Didn't open most of the mags.
 
Publishers of newspapers and magazines continue to face the challenge and full time writers continue to lose jobs to part time bloggers. Before owning any magazines, I looked at it simplistically. Move more to the internet, seems simple.

However, the challenge is monetizing the internet content. Print content depended in varying degrees on advertising and subscriptions. Web content does the same. However, print advertisers paid far more per edition. A newpaper or magazine kept adding ad content to the point they were often 40% ads or more. They charged dearly for those ads, pointing out what a bargain they were compared to television or even radio and how much more effective. Web ads don't pay the same, and shouldn't as they don't carry the same value. You don't carry them with you, you view and leave and often barely view. So a full newspaper or magazine on the web generates far less ad revenue than the same in print.

Then subscriptions. The internet is free in the minds of most. Initially, people didn't charge for content. Wall Street Journal did. ESPN insider did. Slowly New York Times did and now most newspapers do but less than they did in print. The best sports information is now The Athletic and they charge but so very little compared to what they would for a print version. Still they've done enough to pull some of the best writers.

Today, for a print magazine to succeed it must be a "coffee table magazine", one you want to reference repeatedly. For instance, every city has a major magazine that is filled with a lot of "best of". There are also family and children's regular publications where you want to go back and reread. Many are timeless. Still sales are going to be far less than they once might have been. Sports Illustrated has done it with their swimsuit edition. Newspapers do it with their Sunday and Wednesday ads.

So, how do you make the transition? You go online knowing revenues will be far less. If you're online only, you save on the cost of printing. If you continue with a print version, you save some but you still have all the set up costs and print run costs. The only other place is you cut back on writers and reporters and "journalists", the true professionals. That lowers content value and further erodes things.

It's a very tough change and many have failed to successfully handle it. There is ton's of free content available online. It's not professionally written and it's often not accurate or informative but it's free. As a publisher, you must provide something that people are willing to pay for. That means exceptional and informative content. To advertisers, you can't just sell page views and even click throughs. You must be able to show advertisers that people come to them after seeing the ads.

Thinking has had to change and the publishing industry was slow to recognize that. Unfortunately, that means a tremendous loss. Hopefully a new generation will find new ways of revitalizing "publishing" both in print and online. There are some definite advantages. Timeliness is number one as the turnaround is so much quicker. Adding discussion and comments sections is another as you engage the reader.

To Boating magazines in particular, first as to advertising. Once builders and dealers were a huge source but they all now have their own web sites and won't pay what they did. Even if you have articles the reader wants to keep, the ads become stale so the fact the reader looks back carries less value. Ads need to be destination types, come to this place because it's great regardless of when you're reading this. The spring sale no longer carries as much value but we carry ads for marinas and yards that talk about their excellence and service and are timeless, brand building ads. Best of this nature ever was probably Coca-Cola's "I'd like to teach the World to Sing." Then sometimes it's just really good ad salespersons trying new things. But then some had cut back on salespeople too, sort of silly when you need more. We did a crazy experiment before Thanksgiving. We publish one of those upscale, everything advertised high priced, high society, snobby, local magazines. The type showing multi million dollar homes. Advertisers who do $100k landscaping or outdoor kitchen jobs. We had acquired some Ace Hardware stores and said "What the Heck, Let's try a pre-Thanksgiving ad." Now we had fliers sent out and much national and regional advertising but put an ad on grills in. Not $100k kitchens, but $399-1499 Kamado Joe, Weber, and Traeger. Result was people coming into a hardware store who never have been to one saying "I didn't know you sold grills here." These are the same people who made Costco the #1 Kamado Joe seller with their events around the country.

How does that apply to boating publications? Well, boaters are people too. Maybe you have some ads not simply about boating but other types of businesses trying to appeal to them. You know all the ad words and google ads used so widely where ads keep popping up of things you've previously looked at, maybe if you've got something special you show a viewer something they've never looked at before. Maybe he's been to all the boating sites but might benefit from the latest trends in treating knees without doing replacements or the same with backs. And in online publishing, don't strictly use the crutch of google and others, but get out and sell some of your own ads and build your own group of regular advertisers as that's another thing found that in publishing the true benefit of ads isn't one time but repeated ads.

Now, as to selling content, I don't see that as an answer for these type publications. If you don't update daily, I see it as low potential unless you're a true must have content provider. You have to bring value to your advertisers and bring in readers with your content but you can't charge readers to view.

I hate seeing magazines like those mentioned fold. I hate it every day I see news reporters fired in reductions. Unfortunately, too many have been too slow to react to the new publishing world and the economics it presents. They lost and we all lost too.
 
I got it for nothing, and that's about what it was worth to me...nothing. Did not relate in any way to my boating lifestyle. A quick glance, and into the recycle bin. I still have the Spring/Summer 1982 issue of "Trawler Cruiser Yacht" subtitled " for all who cruise under power." Now there was a magazine that filled the bill for me.
 
I also got it free. I did notice in the last issue that the managing editor was leaving, obviously tied in to them stopping production.
 
I thought they had shut down years ago.......
 
Who needs Sea Magazine when Trawler Forum has these characters: psneeld, OC Diver, Ski in NC, Sailor of Fortune, HeadMistress, Nomad Willy, Steve DAntonio, sunchaser, Pau Hana, ksanders, Moonstruck, Crusty Chief, Cardude, Northern Spy, and HopCar...just to name a few?
 
Giggitoni said:
Who needs Sea Magazine when Trawler Forum has these characters: psneeld, OC Diver, Ski in NC, Sailor of Fortune, HeadMistress, Nomad Willy, Steve DAntonio, sunchaser, Pau Hana, ksanders, Moonstruck, Crusty Chief, Cardude, Northern Spy, and HopCar...just to name a few?
Click to expand...

On behalf of of the above named scoundrels, I say...

Flattery will get you everywhere!:D
 
Great! I don't read SEA, but get a free one every month. I guess because I have a big boat. I've called and emailed requesting them to stop, but it just keeps coming.
Magazines mail free copies, usually by zip code. So they can tell their advertisers they have so many magazines going to Beverly Hills, etc. And I suppose SEA wants to have bigger boat owners as recipients. They don't seem to care my boat is almost 80 years old. I did notice the magazine was getting thinner.
 
BandB said:
Publishers of newspapers and magazines continue to face the challenge and full time writers continue to lose jobs to part time bloggers. Before owning any magazines, I looked at it simplistically. Move more to the internet, seems simple.

However, the challenge is monetizing the internet content. Print content depended in varying degrees on advertising and subscriptions. Web content does the same. However, print advertisers paid far more per edition. A newpaper or magazine kept adding ad content to the point they were often 40% ads or more. They charged dearly for those ads, pointing out what a bargain they were compared to television or even radio and how much more effective. Web ads don't pay the same, and shouldn't as they don't carry the same value. You don't carry them with you, you view and leave and often barely view. So a full newspaper or magazine on the web generates far less ad revenue than the same in print.

Then subscriptions. The internet is free in the minds of most. Initially, people didn't charge for content. Wall Street Journal did. ESPN insider did. Slowly New York Times did and now most newspapers do but less than they did in print. The best sports information is now The Athletic and they charge but so very little compared to what they would for a print version. Still they've done enough to pull some of the best writers.

Today, for a print magazine to succeed it must be a "coffee table magazine", one you want to reference repeatedly. For instance, every city has a major magazine that is filled with a lot of "best of". There are also family and children's regular publications where you want to go back and reread. Many are timeless. Still sales are going to be far less than they once might have been. Sports Illustrated has done it with their swimsuit edition. Newspapers do it with their Sunday and Wednesday ads.

So, how do you make the transition? You go online knowing revenues will be far less. If you're online only, you save on the cost of printing. If you continue with a print version, you save some but you still have all the set up costs and print run costs. The only other place is you cut back on writers and reporters and "journalists", the true professionals. That lowers content value and further erodes things.

It's a very tough change and many have failed to successfully handle it. There is ton's of free content available online. It's not professionally written and it's often not accurate or informative but it's free. As a publisher, you must provide something that people are willing to pay for. That means exceptional and informative content. To advertisers, you can't just sell page views and even click throughs. You must be able to show advertisers that people come to them after seeing the ads.

Thinking has had to change and the publishing industry was slow to recognize that. Unfortunately, that means a tremendous loss. Hopefully a new generation will find new ways of revitalizing "publishing" both in print and online. There are some definite advantages. Timeliness is number one as the turnaround is so much quicker. Adding discussion and comments sections is another as you engage the reader.

To Boating magazines in particular, first as to advertising. Once builders and dealers were a huge source but they all now have their own web sites and won't pay what they did. Even if you have articles the reader wants to keep, the ads become stale so the fact the reader looks back carries less value. Ads need to be destination types, come to this place because it's great regardless of when you're reading this. The spring sale no longer carries as much value but we carry ads for marinas and yards that talk about their excellence and service and are timeless, brand building ads. Best of this nature ever was probably Coca-Cola's "I'd like to teach the World to Sing." Then sometimes it's just really good ad salespersons trying new things. But then some had cut back on salespeople too, sort of silly when you need more. We did a crazy experiment before Thanksgiving. We publish one of those upscale, everything advertised high priced, high society, snobby, local magazines. The type showing multi million dollar homes. Advertisers who do $100k landscaping or outdoor kitchen jobs. We had acquired some Ace Hardware stores and said "What the Heck, Let's try a pre-Thanksgiving ad." Now we had fliers sent out and much national and regional advertising but put an ad on grills in. Not $100k kitchens, but $399-1499 Kamado Joe, Weber, and Traeger. Result was people coming into a hardware store who never have been to one saying "I didn't know you sold grills here." These are the same people who made Costco the #1 Kamado Joe seller with their events around the country.

How does that apply to boating publications? Well, boaters are people too. Maybe you have some ads not simply about boating but other types of businesses trying to appeal to them. You know all the ad words and google ads used so widely where ads keep popping up of things you've previously looked at, maybe if you've got something special you show a viewer something they've never looked at before. Maybe he's been to all the boating sites but might benefit from the latest trends in treating knees without doing replacements or the same with backs. And in online publishing, don't strictly use the crutch of google and others, but get out and sell some of your own ads and build your own group of regular advertisers as that's another thing found that in publishing the true benefit of ads isn't one time but repeated ads.

Now, as to selling content, I don't see that as an answer for these type publications. If you don't update daily, I see it as low potential unless you're a true must have content provider. You have to bring value to your advertisers and bring in readers with your content but you can't charge readers to view.

I hate seeing magazines like those mentioned fold. I hate it every day I see news reporters fired in reductions. Unfortunately, too many have been too slow to react to the new publishing world and the economics it presents. They lost and we all lost too.
Click to expand...

Yup.

My wife and I work very closely with Latitudes & Attitudes magazine (she's the advertising director and I do various things). While the proverbial writing is indeed on the publishing industry wall, we continue to buck the trend and grow our print readership. However, we have Bob Bitchin and the power/draw of his outsized personality. We're lucky, because most publications don't have that. But we know Bob can't last forever. After all he's in his 70s.

We're going to visit them over Christmas and do some brainstorming. I think we might as well just get drunk and say let's ride the wave until it crashes on shore. Because I don't think we're going to be able to change the print publishing tide...
 
Just got my free December issue of Sea magazine with new editor John Virata. No mention of shutting down.
 
A lot of publishing companies go under instead of getting the right staff in place to help them transition to the internet. It's sad at times to lose good publication to evolving technologies. I wouldn't mind have my favorite rag online. It would be nice if I could down load each mag as a PDF or similar to read off line. It wouldn't be much different than reading an E book, I think. A few small moto rags I was into went strictly online with PDF downloads. Some were free with sponsored funding and advertising while a few had adverts and a small monthly or yearly subscription fee.
 
Giggitoni said:
Who needs Sea Magazine when Trawler Forum has these characters: psneeld, OC Diver, Ski in NC, Sailor of Fortune, HeadMistress, Nomad Willy, Steve DAntonio, sunchaser, Pau Hana, ksanders, Moonstruck, Crusty Chief, Cardude, Northern Spy, and HopCar...just to name a few?
Click to expand...

Having never read Sea, I'm not really sure how to comment. But yeah, the term "character," has been bantered about previously...
 
Although I enjoy occasionally reading about new boats. I don't think I ever want to afford a 3-4m payment on something that floats. I'd rather read about travels in the PNW, cool places to visit. Real boats that I truly can afford today or at least sometime in the future. Lets showcase boat owners and their stories. Many times I picked up the magazine and could skim through it in less than 30 minutes. Lots and lots of advertisement very little real content. I love magazines, great to read in the hot tub or other places and not worry about dropping it or getting it wet, etc.
 
ben2go said:
I wouldn't mind have my favorite rag online. It would be nice if I could down load each mag as a PDF or similar to read off line. It wouldn't be much different than reading an E book, I think. A few small moto rags I was into went strictly online with PDF downloads. Some were free with sponsored funding and advertising while a few had adverts and a small monthly or yearly subscription fee.
Click to expand...


Your local public library has access to RB Digital, an online depository of magazines that has almost every magazine available to read on your tablet or computer. Except Passagemaker.

And RB Digital is free with your library card!

I read Road & Track, Car and Driver and a few other car magazines on it. Those magazines are never offered as free subscriptions of the printed version.

It is interesting to see car and cycle magazines still doing well. Also Wood Boat, Fine Woodworking, Fine Homebuilding and several other esoteric hobby magazines. And these types of magazines are fairly expensive.
 
Last edited:
Spoke too soon. Ten Publishing is shutting down 19 car magazines.

They are not of the same caliber or have been around as long as Road & Track, Car and Driver, Motor Trend etc. I'm surprised that Automobile magazine ended. It was up there with the top car mags.

4-Wheel & Off-Road
Automobile
Car Craft
Chevy High Performance
Classic Trucks 
Diesel Power
Hot Rod Deluxe 
Jp
Lowrider
Mopar Muscle
Muscle Car Review
Muscle Mustangs & Fast Fords
Mustang Monthly
Street Rodder
Super Chevy 
Super Street
Truck Trend 
Truckin’
Vette
 
syjos said:
Spoke too soon. Ten Publishing is shutting down 19 car magazines.

They are not of the same caliber or have been around as long as Road & Track, Car and Driver, Motor Trend etc. I'm surprised that Automobile magazine ended. It was up there with the top car mags.

4-Wheel & Off-Road
Automobile
Car Craft
Chevy High Performance
Classic Trucks 
Diesel Power
Hot Rod Deluxe 
Jp
Lowrider
Mopar Muscle
Muscle Car Review
Muscle Mustangs & Fast Fords
Mustang Monthly
Street Rodder
Super Chevy 
Super Street
Truck Trend 
Truckin’
Vette
Click to expand...

Let's be careful with the use of the words "Shutting Down." It's my understanding they're changing to internet only. In many cases that is just a reflection that the majority of their readers have changed to reading them only online. By calling that shutting down, it's the same as if we were to deny the existence of TF.

We do all our book reading digitally. That doesn't mean we've stopped reading books.

We don't buy any "records" for our "phonograph" nor really any CD's now as we download. Doesn't mean we've stopped listening to music.

Now, Blockbuster was one of the most extreme cases of downfall. They did offer online but way too late and they never figured out the store footprint could be reduced, but then they'd made their money and now it was only the franchisees suffering so did they really care? Sure doesn't mean people don't watch movies at home as now they're watching more than ever, delivered by magic digitally.

Now, the problem is that digital doesn't monetize at the same levels of print so there does have to be major adjustments in that regard. Every business has to figure out how to adapt to the new economics and how to find new revenue streams.

Everything in any of these magazines can be published online. Photos can be enhanced, video streamed. Can they earn enough through ads and any subscriptions to continue to pay for writers and reviews? That's the challenge.
 
Its a shame as I enjoyed the magazine. Yes it was a PNW thing, to include things on Mexico. We have used SEA to help us with information of differant anchorages and marinia.

I hope someone takes it over.
 
Yachts International

Interesting and sad to see another print publication meet its final edition. On a similar note Yachts International magazine is trying another approach to remain profitable and stay relevant. They changed their format, added a section with some amazing photos and limited publications to quarterly. Will it be enough to remain profitable and stay in business, only time will tell.

John T
 
You must log in or register to reply here.

Similar threads

Adopo
Very cool youtube series-Onne van der Wal Cruising their 32 Grand Banks
Replies
4
Views
345
Adopo
Adopo
CaptainKen
Watching My Wake
Replies
4
Views
572
Mambo42
Mambo42
darkside
The high cost of boat ownership
Replies
5
Views
1K
SteveK
SteveK
D
Velair VSD New Installation
Replies
3
Views
627
Vatu
V
Adopo
Lawsuit Rocks the Yacht-Sales World
2
Replies
51
Views
8K
FoxtrotCharlie
FoxtrotCharlie

Latest posts

Back
Top Bottom