[Magazines] Autosport requests your input on redesign

[Marshal]

First thanks for asking

I've been reading weekly for the last 28 years (since I was 8) and still look forward to the magazine eagerly each Thursday, and would agree with the comments about a dip in quality which your are coming out of.

I also agree with a lot of the points regarding a broader church of coverage, with a higher level of expectation of your readers intellect.

One point that I would disagree with a few other respondants is regarding the F1 race reports, where I find Mark Hughes columns and race reports excellent and insightful, really something you don't get elsewhere. I also like the speculation, so don't stop.

[Fiorentina 1]

I love the fact that on Saturday mornings I can pick up the latest issue (one that comes out on Thursdays in UK) at the magazine store in Los Angeles. That's pretty impressive! So, what ever you do DON'T mess with that!

1) The cover should not always be about F1. Especially if the cover covers a small story. Example, "does Ferrari need Alonso" cover of late. What was that article, 1 1/2 pages long? Come on, something else must have happened in racing.

2) I love the racing history stuff like the BTCC 50 year pieces and stories about famous F1 races of the past (I believe it's called golden races or something.) Keep those coming! Maybe have some Gold races about F3, Opel-Lotus, F2 or Formula Ford Festival; it would be fun to see the grid and results of those especially if someone won and he's no where to be seen but the rest of the top 5 are F1 race winners. Like Diego Castro-Santos, what ever happened to him and look who he beat in opel Lotus. Pieces like that are great.

3) Do more features like best drivers, cars, tracks, teams, etc. Once in a while you put those out. You did the best Porsche 911 drivers a few years ago and that was really cool. Not only best F1, but what about best Le Mans drivers, or best Tin-top drivers, best F3 team/drivers, best formula ford drivers, best Ring-Masters, etc.

Those kind of features are fun, and those will push me over the edge and make me fork over $8.00 to purchase the issue.

[Dutton]

8 bucks? Lucky you! I have to fork out 14...

With regards the cover issue, yes, indeed, it would be nice to only have F1 covers when there is something significant to report on the F1 front. It is always lovely when non-F1 makes it on the front.

However, we all know the reasons for the F1 covers (and it is quite understandable, for the most part). I have often wondered whether there cannot be a compromise whereby it is a split-cover type thing. Have the top half of the page F1, with the bottom half something else.

My thinking is those who will buy it with F1 on the cover, but wouldn't otherwise, will see F1 when they look at (or flip through) the shelves; those who are not influenced such ways will then be able to, at least in part, have the other stuff on the cover (instead of once or twice a year, or what have you).

It may not be viable, or effective, but to me, just pondering it without professional analysis, or what have you, it could work.

[Adam43]

Originally Posted by Marshal

First thanks for asking

I agree with this, it is good that they are asking. The listening is the tricky bit, but I feel that it will be taken on board.

One point that I would disagree with a few other respondants is regarding the F1 race reports, where I find Mark Hughes columns and race reports excellent and insightful, really something you don't get elsewhere. I also like the speculation, so don't stop.

I guess this demonstrates the difficulty that AvB will have, not every likes the same thing. I find Mark Hughes reports full of psedo-analysis that is poorly explained with no context. All statement with poor reasoning and no clarification. It would fail a GCSE science exam, well maybe not nowadays! In the re-design I would limit the use of the word "expert" to people who are, not just anyone who writes for Autosport.

I'm not against F1 having a huge part of the magazine (it has too), but if the articles offer me nothing and I end up either throwing it across the room, getting nothing from it, or just not reading it then why bother? I made my choice though and, as I say, some do like the sytle.

This goes against some of the things said above, but I'd leave out re-printing of old articles. Produce a comprehensive archive (like Motorsport), but Autosport should be about today's motorsport (although include historic racing). Other magazines cover historic aspects of the sport and do so in a better manner than Autosport every can because it isn't their core.

I'd like a decent size preview magazines not the A5 lot.

I look forward to seeing what changes are made...

[davyboy]

There's one thing about Autosport that I used to love back in the 1980s and that was the colour posters that used to be included. For some reason or other they almost never appear these days. I think they were [and still are] a fantastic opportunity for sponsors, much better than a page of advertising as they generally got pride of place on the walls of motor sport enthusiasts bedrooms and garages.

Bring the large colour poster inserts back !

[Adam43]

Good call. I have the Donington Park 1993 thank you poster framed, along with many others still on my walls.

[jonners]

Is anyone out there listening to all this??

My father and I used to buy, read and discuss Autosport religiously but we stopped years ago. This was because the world of motorsport was changing (in a manner that we didn't like) and the magazine was changing with it.

I don't bother with it these days as it's too tabloid and in my opinion the journalism is poor. I occasionally browse through a copy and am amazed at the percentage content of the bleeding obvious. I mean, how many of these guys atually go out looking for stories?

Many aspects of motorsport these days are very predictable and it's a shame that the magazine can seem to do no better than to reflect that.

As for the comparisons with Motorsport, don't forget that Motorsport these days is not a competitor but a historic motorsport magazine. The fact that some see it as an alternative tells its own story...

[AvdB]

Dear all,

Yes, I'm checking this thread about five times a day!

I'm not commenting on specific posts as the idea was to gather opinion. The re-design process is a lengthy one, and I'm trying to garner as many views as possible.

It's clear from here that it will be impossible to please everyone with everything, but it's my desire to cement Autosport's position as a must-read motor racing magazine, so I will be looking at each of your opinions very carefully.

Keep 'em coming!

Best,

Andrew van de Burgt
Editor, Autosport

[ian beckett]

I have been reading Autosport since mid-60's when it was the highlight of my week!I have been subscribing to it for many years now but have recently started to wonder whether it is worth continuing.I am now rather contemptous of all things F1 and as a result I tend to skim read this area of the magazine which by the time you take away the adverts does not leave a great deal of 'bang for your buck'! The other magazine I subscribe to Motor Sport now features an overview of F1 for the previous months events and is therefore adequate for any lingering interest I have about the world of GP's. I also now am able to watch as much motorsport on TV as I choose which has also taken away the desire to buy the magazine,perhaps for much longer?Events such as the Mosley scandal and incidents such as the apalling decision taken by the FIA at last weekends Belgian GP mean that I am starting to fall out of love with modern motor sport in general.Not a very upbeat set of comments I am afraid but from talking to other enthusiasts I suspect I am not alone in sharing these views!!!

[Chiefy]

Hello Autosport,

All-in-all I'm a fan of the magazine. I agree that F1 should take some sort of precedence but that it would do no harm to show others on the front cover. Look at the titan struggle in the BTCC between Plato and Giovanardi, as the Brit attempts to regain the title from far behind. Or what about a NASCAR cover as we head into The Chase?

The quality of the journalism I find okay, though I do miss Nigel Roebuck's column, and wonder whether Mark Hughes' column (which seems bigger since Nigel's departure) is enough to compensate for his absence. On the plus side, Autosport is far superior to F1 Racing, whose monthly magazine comes too late in the day to make reading it worthwhile: Autosport, as a weekly edition, keeps good pace with the motor racing world. Does the fact that F1 Racing revamped itself only a couple of months ago have anything to do with your plans for an overhaul? As long as you steer clear of the path they have taken, I'm sure it'll all work out fine. I read the first of the new-look F1 Racing magazines and was particularly unimpressed by Peter Windsor's opinions' page (he was getting on his high horse about making F1 more fan-friendly, as though nobody else had realised it should be).

Keep up the good work and try not to do anything too radical! The masses rely on this magazine for weekly updates and need something practical.

[JP Sarti]

I've been buying, or subscribing since about 1968, and this is the year I'm considering dropping purchasing. On that basis I'm glad that there's a redesign in the works.

1. Drop the tabloid type headlines. They don't read well now, and they won't read any better in the future (I'm sure I'm not the only one who recycles for reading 'aged' copies)

2. Drop much of the F1 filler content. I'd live with a thinner magazine than have to flip through some of the lightweight stuff that's in there.

3. I like the newly designed Motor Sport, and I also think that Octane has a good feel to it.

4. Part of the problem these days is that with so much F1 coverage on TV it's how you angle the articles to provide depth (we've moved on from when Grand Prix racing was reproduced on TV by having slot cars in the studio). Perhaps more photography? A small move towards the world of the old - and much loved - GPI?

5. Not a design issue, but here in the US the mailed subscription copies appear several days after they appear in the newstands over here. This is annoying (any travelling Brits who need their Autosport fix while in New York should try the newstands in Grand Central Station)

6. Longer term I'd be focusing on electronic delivery - Kindle - that sort of approach. I have this feeling that rather more quickly than we believe newsprint, and magazine material is going to make the leap to electronic format; done properly the economics should work on both sides.

[Andy Bacon]

I have not bought Autosport for years. I stopped as many have already commented because of your obsession with F1 in which I had lost all interest.

I assume that you are not planning a "complete re-design" because sales are booming. Maybe a repositioning towards an older more intelligent readership will help but any improvement will merely slow the inevitable decline.

All newsprint and magazines are a dying industry - if you don't agree check out the statistics. In as little as ten years Autosport as a printed magazine simply will not exist, it will be as outdated as a horse and cart. I have not bought a newspaper for years, why would I when it is conveniently available on my computer screen for free? I also find the on-line comments posted are often more entertaining and enlightening than than the original article by, in the case of the mainstream press, the usual overpaid-underworked-nepotistical-Notting Hill set journalist whose current feather-bedded little number will also be up in the next ten years or so.

Last time I checked Autosport on-line you expected me to pay - that business model simply will not work, the newspapers tried that and it failed. Embrace the now not-so-new technology or die.

[kipper]

In my opinion if Autosport is to make changes, then like quite a few others, I would suggest that a reduction in the coverage devoted to F1 would be a start. Whilst I accept that commercial reasons are likely to mean that F1 coverage needs to be dominant and feature in a prominently on the cover, I would suggest that in weeks when F1 news is a little low then this space should be used for other categories. Similarly, F1 stories should not be used to fill a significant amount of space by virtue of large pictures. I would also suggest that F1 reports could be reduced by a small margin (say a couple of pages), which would have the benefit of providing more space for other categories without disappointing those that purchase the magazine for the F1 reports.

Unlike a number of previous posts, I can't say I am in favour of features such as 'Grand Prix Gold'. Whilst there is obviously room for retrospective features, it should in my view offer a previously untold story or fresh perspective and not verbatim repetition of previously published content.

Given the availability of results on the internet for pretty much everything from F1 to club meetings at a wet and windy Snetterton, combined with such a large amount of television coverage given to numerous championships, the days of purchasing Autosport to find out who won the weekend's racing have gone. As such, I would suggest that reports in Autosport need to focus on what may have been missed by TV or not evident from the results sheet. Therefore, in say a LMS report, if the LMP1 battle was uneventful but the GT2 class provided an exciting race then the main thrust of the report should be on the more entertaining element of the race.

I would also suggest that the National section is increased to include more news stories and for features to appear on a regular basis.

[Adam43]

Originally Posted by kipper

I would also suggest that the National section is increased to include more news stories and for features to appear on a regular basis.

True, a bigger National Club section mean that there is more chance my name or a picture will be in it. That guarentees a couple of sales (me and me Mum).

How many clubbies get their name in each week? What are the sales figures?

[Pete Fenelon]

Originally Posted by jonners

As for the comparisons with Motorsport, don't forget that Motorsport these days is not a competitor but a historic motorsport magazine. The fact that some see it as an alternative tells its own story...

A very wise author said many years ago that "we're all competing for their beer money". MS is a competitor, MN's a competitor, getting a pizza delivered is a competitor

[andy_b]

You know, actually, I see Motorsport as more of a competitor now than it was in the 80's. Back then it was full of historical pieces with the odd nod to a latest road car or a current event, which had heritage.

Back to today and while its primarily its historical pieces, there are still quite a few modern pieces. We get issues so-late here in Canada, but the last four/five issues have been corkers! I think the reason is, the articleas are in-depth, something thats missing with Autosport (part of the nature of a modern weekly)

Everything that stopped me buying Autosport reguarly (after buying every issues since I was 9 in 1979 to about 2004, a while before I left the UK) has already been covered...but the important ones for me are

Reduce the Speculation! - Learn from the website, The Grapevine is a seperate secondary piece of the site for stuff like that

Its not all about F1 - Its harse reality that F1 pays the magazine's bills, but more on Sportscars, other big series and National focus would be cool. Increasing National focus will help OUR rising stars get/keep their sponsorship which means in years to come a stronger British driver line-up.

Its not all about Lewis - Big fan of Lewis and followed his career from Karting. However, F1 is bigger than Lewis. its like watching US coverage of the Olympics, its bigger than one individual. The issues I have bought this year have been better than 07, but still, needs to be carefully monitored. How about some more promotion of the likes of our winners like Priaulx, Turner, McNish etc. Dont be like The Sun (see first point)

Personally, I would pay for a PDF version of the mag (I know they tried it a while back) as I'm overseas, but as long as its not just the website news and nothing else. It didnt work before apparently, I wonder if a) it would work today and b) if its cheaper to implement with technology now.

Ending on a positive, Autosport is still miles better than anything on this side of the Atlantic. The likes of AS, Car and Evo (note I left out Auto Excrement and Autocar) are light years ahead of US offerings, although Automobile comes close. It says a lot when I will pay $12 bucks for an imported magazine over a domestic one at less than half the price.

[andy_b]

Originally Posted by davyboy

There's one thing about Autosport that I used to love back in the 1980s and that was the colour posters that used to be included. For some reason or other they almost never appear these days. I think they were [and still are] a fantastic opportunity for sponsors, much better than a page of advertising as they generally got pride of place on the walls of motor sport enthusiasts bedrooms and garages.

Bring the large colour poster inserts back !

Wow, you know I forgot about that and we commented about that in the historic form and a blog the other day.

As a kid, my whole room, including ceiling were full of posters. I'd say a good 1/3 to 1/2 were filled up with ones from Autosport. In fact, I use to go to the centre just to see what was there before I read the rest of the magazine.

Now I have a garage, I'd love to do the same to that (my bedroom is out of bounds for posters now!). I actually think thats one of the best ideas to come out of this thread

[Dutton]

Is there a particular store you get it from? I ask because I have only ever found it for about 14.50. Knocking a couple of bucks off would do nicely, thank you. It is a rather dire situation trying to find anything motorsport related in stores (heck, even NASCAR stuff is rather hard to find given its popularity). I occasionally see an Autosport in a newsagents, but I have found it usually seems to be dedicated bookstores that I need to go into (maybe that accounts for those elusive couple of bucks?).

[Fiorentina 1]

Another thing that would be cool to add to the Golden Races section is have profiles of some heros of the past. And, not the Sennas, Fangios, Clarks and Stewarts, but cult heros like Stefan Bellof, Rolf Stommelen, Tony Rolt, Jean Behra, Tony Lanfranchi, Tony Brise, Dave Coyne, Tommy Bryne, Mike Tackwall, Johnny Cecotto, Bruno Giacomelli, Guido Dacco, David Purley, Gregor Foitek, Hans Heyer, Pekka Herva, Freddy Kottulinsky, etc, etc. The piece you had on Alain Menu for the 50 years of BTCC was great! Something like that on so called cult heros that race fans love so much would be great!

These are pieces that would educate the new fans on heros of the past, especially the non-famous ones. For example, Tony Rolt, who passed away this year; you can make a movie out of that guy! But, how many fans under the age of 40 know anything about him?

[Dutton]

I don't mind some "odies" type stuff in something such as Autosport, but, IMO, one needs to be careful about having too much; after all, a weekly of the Autosport bent should be primarily about covering contemporary stuff.

Insofar as it is present, I always feel it is particularly justified if it can be related to something going on in the present. Other than that, the only other thing I feel partiularly about in this context is the "bottom" end of the spectrum. The drivers and teams who struggled like hell even to get on the grid (some did, some didn't; even then, often struggling to make race 2 - and such).

Those people and organisations deserve some recognition, be it positive or negative, although looking on the positive should be the general idea. Without those on the bottom, well, the whole thing falls apart.

[Aysedasi]

As Andrew knows, I finally gave up on Autosport earlier this year after the best part of 25 years as a subscriber. My main beef is (as bobmilligan says) the F1 banality and the assumption that motorsport = F1 and everything else is some kind of supporting act. Whilst I'm sure that many still believe in F1 being the pinnacle of motor sport - to me, having just read the Jo Ramirez and Jackie Stewart autobiogs, it clearly isn't any more... My needs are simple, wider coverage and top-notch coverage of Le Mans each year.

Actually, I've just been on holiday and bought my first copy of AS since I bought the Le Mans preview and post Le Mans editions. It was entertaining but still only took me half an hour to read from cover to cover. The Golden Races idea is excellent - more please! There was stuff in there that was worth reading though - not enough to lure me back permanently though.

[Go_For_Pole]

Originally Posted by Fiorentina 1

I love the fact that on Saturday mornings I can pick up the latest issue (one that comes out on Thursdays in UK) at the magazine store in Los Angeles. That's pretty impressive! So, what ever you do DON'T mess with that!

Andrew although the delivery date for Greek subscribers (yes, plural ) is Tuesday I do second Fio's view

Keep up the good work!
Kostas

[Pete Fenelon]

As for this week's "IS MEGA BRILLIANT STUNNING F1 FIXED?".... several pages wasted just to say "Er, no, but some fans who don't like Bernieworld think so, but no, we don't want to lose our passes". Waste of valuable trees.

Which is a pity because there were some great things in this week's issue. Too much contemporary F1, obviously, but any mag that's printed two pics of Adrian Beer's gorgeous MGB GT V8 in the last few months can't be all bad!

GP Gold - superb. Good Silverstone 1000km preview and excellent clubbie/national coverage, and MAWP is as ever the voice of reason.

It's the schizophrenia that gets me - if the whole mag was written at the level of the national pages, the columns by the respected voices, the IRL and GP2 race reports it's be excellent. But there's all the bitty trivia and Aspergers' stats dumps in the F1 coverage that just cheapen the whole thing.

There's one great mag and one truly lousy one inside Autosport, both trying to get out. Please, send the rubbish to F1 Racing - treat F1 as what it is, a politically troubled single seater series with poor racing and small grids. Don't pander to it.

[Super Hans]

Originally Posted by Pete Fenelon

As for this week's "IS MEGA BRILLIANT STUNNING F1 FIXED?".... several pages wasted just to say "Er, no, but some fans who don't like Bernieworld think so, but no, we don't want to lose our passes". Waste of valuable trees.

That's antoher think I wanted to mention. I do sometimes feel that Autosport is too close to the sport, and subsequently is afraid to truly speak out.

Super League Formula received a glossy build-up and a lot of positive comment, when I'd like to have seen it dismissed as the insult to our intelligence it clearly is.

[Graz]

Less sensationalist headlines - leave that to the tabloids. Also, smarten the image up a bit, it always strikes me as being too in your face, tabloidy (if that's a word).

I'd also like to see features on classic racing cars (from all era's and genre), races and circuits and where possible, tests of such cars and tracks if they still exist.

Less F1 coverage, with increased focus on wider motorsport both internationally and nationally. There's more out there than F1.

The last poster mentions a 'where are they now' feature which is a good idea.