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Post by keithl on May 2, 2024 23:56:53 GMT
According to an article in today's Milwaukee Journal Sentinel, Kalmbach Media (fka Kalmbach Publishing) is selling almost all of its publications/brands/digital platforms. This includes Classic Toy Trains, Model Railroader, etc. The purchaser is Firecrown Media, of Chattanooga, Tennessee. The only properties that Kalmbach is retaining are Discover Magazine, focused on science news, and Saturn Lounge, its digital marketing agency. I can only speculate that perhaps Firecrown wasn't interested in these. Of course, Kalmbach is an historic company in the hobby industry. A. C. Kalmbach, a legend in the industry, founded the company 90 years ago with Model Railroader. For a long time, I'd been wondering what the future held for Kalmbach. The company had prospered over the decades by building up its stable of leading print publications around trains (model and prototype) and other hobby segments. With print contracting for some time now, it just didn't seem that Kalmbach had figured out the magic recipe for a digital-based business model that would maintain, let alone grow, market share and profits. Today, we learned the answer. It will be interesting to see what Firecrown Media has in mind for leveraging these brands in the digital world. The article is here: www.jsonline.com/story/money/business/2024/05/02/kalmbach-media-sells-model-railroader-other-magazines-in-its-portfolio/73530068007/ |
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Post by dlagrua on May 3, 2024 1:07:14 GMT
Kalmbach was a large publishing house that has been part of the model train hobby for a long time. At the peak of its popularity Model Railroader and Trains Magazine magazine were their leading publications. Renamed Kalmbach Media it may have been sold to a company that will change its name and marketing approach away from print media and towards online publications. Firecrown media (the buyer) is one of the leading transportation media providers, serving the aviation, boating, and logistics industries with magazine brands such as Flying, Boating, Yachting, Salt Water Sportsman and FreightWaves. They are also involved in real estate and other ventures.
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Post by madockawando on May 3, 2024 1:51:22 GMT
It would not surprise me that Trains as a digital magazine will stay but CTT will be discontinued under the new owners. I think that every story about the history of toy trains had been told.
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Post by atsda on May 3, 2024 2:04:47 GMT
Keith, good to have a post from you. (Let us know how your layout is progressing.) Thanks for the important information. There are still model railroading stories to be told and information to be communicated. How this will be done remains to be seen. Alfred
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Post by Traindiesel! on May 3, 2024 5:56:46 GMT
Kalmbach was leaning towards digital content with their Trains.com venture (all their publications for one price). I was thinking about signing up for that once my Trains and Classic Toy Trains magazines subscriptions ran out. I believe that Firecrown took Trains.com too.
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Post by trainman9 on May 3, 2024 12:11:11 GMT
They sold off most of their publications years ago with the exception of one Carp publication “Dealer Layouts You Can Build”. That was never re-published.
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Post by superwarp1 on May 3, 2024 12:14:52 GMT
Whoaa but not surprised. I love trains, read the daily news online every day. Hope nothing changes with Trains but CTT I wouldn't be surprised if the go the way of the dodo. Leaving just OGR but how long can they last? Time will tell
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Post by superwarp1 on May 3, 2024 12:22:44 GMT
If you can't read that link due to not being a subscriber, check this out from Trains.com
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Post by desrailway on May 3, 2024 12:44:55 GMT
Hmm
I don’t have any other paper newspaper or magazine subscriptions aside from my model rr ones.
And while, being relatively new to the hobby, I find the advertising helpful, I recently reached out to two advertisers (whose websites were weak) - and have never heard back.
Maybe model railroading is going to finally catch up with the rest of the publishing and retail industries? And that might actually be a good thing!
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Post by Craignor on May 3, 2024 15:46:19 GMT
Glub, Glub, Glub…  |
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Post by david1 on May 3, 2024 17:53:45 GMT
Magazines are a thing of the past. Model train ones especially, I mean by the time you get a magazine its already 3 months out of date. I know nobody anymore that gets a train magazine except for model railroading. O gauge magazines have been going away, OGR, CTT is dead, they just Dont know it yet.
I used to have 6-8 subscriptions of different types of magazines, now I'm down to one,CTT that will be gone soon.
Oh well there is still the OGF.
BTW have you guys read the OGR forum lately? My god is it boring, I would like to thank the people in charge for taking a once great forum into a non Incoherent mess. I just visit that forum every now and then to see some friends who still post there but even they don't post much now a days.
Dave
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Post by Craignor on May 3, 2024 18:35:54 GMT
Clambake is not to blame. The internet killed the magazines. Look at Time, Newsweek, etc.
Poof!
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Post by madockawando on May 3, 2024 19:42:20 GMT
Magazines are a thing of the past. Model train ones especially, I mean by the time you get a magazine its already 3 months out of date. I know nobody anymore that gets a train magazine except for model railroading. O gauge magazines have been going away, OGR, CTT is dead, they just Dont know it yet. I used to have 6-8 subscriptions of different types of magazines, now I'm down to one,CTT that will be gone soon. Oh well there is still the OGF. BTW have you guys read the OGR forum lately? My god is it boring, I would like to thank the people in charge for taking a once great forum into a non Incoherent mess. I just visit that forum every now and then to see some friends who still post there but even they don't post much now a days. Dave OGR is boring, everyone is afraid to post something and get banned from the forum with no explanation. That’s not how you have fun in the hobby. Meanwhile this forum continues to grow. |
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Post by rtraincollector on May 3, 2024 23:58:30 GMT
Bob Keller just posted this on CTT
"I just received a letter from Kalmbach (I have a pension and some stock) and remaining assets will be disposed of and the company closed by the end of the year."
So not only did they dismiss him but now he is being cheated out of his retirement with the company.
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Post by af3020 on May 4, 2024 0:59:36 GMT
rtraincollector, I didn't get that impression from the Keller post. My impression was he has stock and a pension which will remain. I went through the same thing a number of years ago. The stock was traded two-for-one with the purchasing company (their stock was worth about twice that of my company) and our pensions were taken over by the new company. Part of the agreement was our pensions would not be cashed out and we would keep them - which we did and which are still paying a monthly amount.
It is sad but at least Model Railroader made it to the 90th year and, if the new owners continue the magazine, it might even make the 100th.
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