Question for the management.

[whisper]

How do your various boating publications decide on what boats are reviewed in which magazine? For example MB&Y states that their next edition will contain a review of the RYDS 23 - this is primarily a dayboat with some basic sleeping accommodation. This IMHO would seem to fit the MBM ethos rather than that of MB&Y.

Are the editors at liberty to select whatever boats they want or is there any corporate guidance as to the suitability of a boat for a title ?

I appreciate that my view of how the two mags. fit alongside each other could very well differ from other people's.

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[BrendanS]

Uhhmm! Kim and other better placed than me to comment, but they have commented several times in the past. Editors of each magazine independent and competitive. No overlapping, and free to choose whatever they want to review.

Do a search, and you can find many comments on same subject, and responses from Kim and editors.

<hr width=100% size=1>There is no such thing as "fun for the whole family."

 

[hlb]

Was thinking wot to say here. But thought better of it so shut up. I mean it's not fair. Is it??

<hr width=100% size=1> <font color=blue>No one can force me to come here.<font color=red> I'm a volunteer!!.<font color=blue>

Haydn

 

[whisper]

Any suggestions on what the search words should be please ?

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[whisper]

Oh dear!! Sorry to hear you are unwell Haydn. How long has this paralysis of the typing fingers been with you. Can't Harry answer in your place?

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[BrendanS]

Lazy git! /forums/images/icons/laugh.gif

here, let me do all the hard work for you

<hr width=100% size=1>There is no such thing as "fun for the whole family."

 

[whisper]

Very kind of you Brendan and thanks for trying but not totally relevant. What I was after,as much as the "independence" factor, was an answer to where does one mag sit in relation to the other.
To me, MBM discusses boats that cost from £5k to say £250k max. whilst MB&Y concentrates on ones that run from say £100k upwards. This view may well be wrong, on the above figures at least, but MB&Y is obviously more interested in the upper echelons than is MBM. That's why I subscribe to MBM rather than MB&Y. I also don't know what search words to use to see if this is the general consensus or not.

I am also interested in how each mag decides what boat they choose to test. Does the editor say, after reading publicity material or hearing news on the grapevine, "ah! that looks interesting we will do a feature on that"? Or, do they have a group of people charged with finding boats to report on?

<hr width=100% size=1><P ID="edit"><FONT SIZE=-1>Edited by whisper on 03/02/2004 21:31 (server time).</FONT></P>

 

[BrendanS]

It's common consensus that MBY is aimed higher than MBM, though the overlap sometimes blurred.

Don't know how they choose boats, but would bet there's a whole bunch of issues involved such as new boats coming out, and maybe sitting down and looking at what's been reviewed and saying 'haven't done a 25'er for a while'

Have also noticed that many themes and questions on these forums make it into print at a later date - whether that is coincidence or not I have no idea.

<hr width=100% size=1>There is no such thing as "fun for the whole family."

 

[kimhollamby]

Editors are free to set their own agendas. They are ultimately deemed responsible for the circulation of their titles and if it all starts to go horribly wrong the buck firmly knows where to sit its ugly backside.

The only time there would be the merest clue that two titles were heading in the same direction is in the publisher's office when front covers are checked -- but mags are normally set on their paths in terms of actual content at that stage.

The only other 'corporate' issue that cuts in is of course are market research checks and balances which assist setting broad policies for mags -- that kind of work goes on with editors, publishers, marketing bods, plus other invitees from around the business and outside of it, but only from time to time and certainly not regarding the finite detail of content. Ultimately it is the editor that calls it.

In terms of overlap mags will chase tests they believe to be of interest to readers and for that reason there will be occasions when both are going after similar or same makes and models.

It's interesting really...as a mag editor I always saw my independence as critical to the job and would have screamed from the rafters had someone suggested swapping notes on boat tests to present a non-competing selection. From a reader's perspective I can see why some would believe that a little behind the scenes co-operation was in fact a good thing to happen.

From my current perspective, where I sit in an environment working across all marine titles (and some others too) with many paper walls, I too can see the advantages of co-operation in some areas (such as with the ybw.com portal arrangement for the marine websites) but also remember the fierce pride of working for a magazine and understand the competitive motivation that brings. A publishing house never really is one company -- it is a collective of (in IPC's case) around 85 companies working under one banner, such is the loyalty that publications typically endear.

You get exactly the same in all consumer mags from all publishers -- car, computer or audio titles for example when the next big launch comes out. You either pick the magazine you trust the most for that info, or buy more than one to cross-compare the views.

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[kimhollamby]

Themes

The forums are just one of many things that editors will be monitoring. They have an influence, but then of course forum comments are often influenced by the mags too and other things going on, so if one was wearing braces and a stripey shirt right now I guess you could claim the process to be something of a virtuous circle /forums/images/icons/smile.gif

In terms of tests Dave Marsh (MBY) and Mark Turley (MBM) will have a fair say in selection; as Tech Editors they sit near to their respective gods.

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[Hugo_Andreae]

While there are no strict rules on this (the two magazines are as much about different attitudes to boating as the depth of our readers' wallets) my personal parameters are to aim for boats of between 20-50ft costing less than £300k, with some form of accomodation and preferably a serious cruising edge (ie more likely to run a full test of a 46ft flybridge cruiser than a 46ft performance boat). We will occasionally go outside this when we think the boat is of particular interest to MBM readers.

Other factors we bear in mind include whether the boat is topical (ie is it new to the market), whether it's likely to sell in significant numbers (not much point in testing a one off), whether it fits with the other boats in the issue (ie we have a good spread of different sizes, styles, and budgets), whether it's technically innovative (ie new engines, different hull designe etc) and whether it's available.

The reason we sometimes have an overlap with MBY is that some boats, usually in the 30-45ft bracket, are of sufficient interest for both mags to want to cover it. While this can be frustrating for people who buy both magazines, the vast majority only read one or the other. I for one would not feel happy denying MBM readers a story on an interesting new boat such as a Rodman 30 just because it appeared in MBY a few weeks earlier.

Hugo

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[whisper]

Re: Thank you gents.

Thanks Kim & Hugo for your comprehensive answers. All is now clear.


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