ACG Closes Print Edition of Magazine

[bayonetbrant]

http://www.historynetshop.com/901ag1.html

Armchair General has discontinued publication of its print edition. The last issue published was the May 2015 issue. You can continue to enjoy Armchair General online at www.armchairgeneral.com. In addition to the website's popular lineup of game, book and movie reviews, and insightful articles on all aspects of military history, you will also find Armchair General's unique interactive articles in which we put YOU in command of history's pivotal battles.

In addition, The World History Group publishes other magazines covering all aspects of history, including Military History and World War II magazine.

Wieder's been sold to World History Group, and they shut down the magazine.



this came in an email from one of their guys I know

As some of you already know, there have been some changes at Weider History Group. We have a new group of owners and a new name: World History Group.


Other changes include, I'm sorry to have to say, the demise of Armchair General magazine. The one currently on the newsstands (May 2015) will be the last one. However, the website lives on, and we will continue to do book and game reviews on it
ACG magazine's former editor, Col. Jerry Morelock, is also continuing with World History Group and will be more involved with the website, although exact details are still in the works. No other changes are planned for ACG in the immediate future.

[Barthheart]

That's too bad. It was a nice magazine that I'd buy when travelling by plane. I once got quizzed by a TSA agent on the 2nd Punic War because he saw my copy, which had a story about the war.
I fully understand the reasoning though. it's got to be a tough marketplace for print magazines and worse for niche ones.
Glad to hear the website will still be around. It's one of my first stops on my morning troll of websites.

[Jarhead0331]

Very sad news. I used to buy it regularly, but stopped purchasing the magazine over the last year or so. I wonder if that contributed to its demise...

Seriously though, print publications, I fear, will someday be a thing of the past. 

[LongBlade]

Seriously though, print publications, I fear, will someday be a thing of the past.

Well, I was working there a few years ago. In preparation for a big pow wow I spent some time looking at print mags in terms of successes and failures. My conclusion was (and remains) that if you offer content people want, they'll buy a print mag. That year there were two major successful launches - Gamestop's in-house mag (whatever it's called) and Gun & Garden. Gamestop made huge increases in circulation by giving the mag away whenever you signed up for their frequent shopper program (I think it was a $10 fee which paid for itself quickly - and could easily be viewed as a subscription fee). The other was a pure old school paper mag launch that found a sweet spot for southern upper income readers.

The entire fleet of mags owned by them are sick. ACG surprises me as its readership was the youngest. The rest of the mags have an average readership age the AARP would envy.

Unfortunately (for them) they didn't ask the guy with the MBA and a decade of online military history publishing experience what he thought.

<shrug> Their glidepath has been clear for a long time, and its slope is steeper because one of their top leaders proudly proclaims that they don't know about history nor do they need to...and apparently the ownership bought that line of reasoning.

Unfortunately there is no helping some people.

I'm sorry to read about the news. There were and I'm sure remain some good folks in that group. I wish them the best.

[Jarhead0331]

Seriously though, print publications, I fear, will someday be a thing of the past.

Well, I was working there a few years ago. In preparation for a big pow wow I spent some time looking at print mags in terms of successes and failures. My conclusion was (and remains) that if you offer content people want, they'll buy a print mag. That year there were two major successful launches - Gamestop's in-house mag (whatever it's called) and Gun & Garden. Gamestop made huge increases in circulation by giving the mag away whenever you signed up for their frequent shopper program (I think it was a $10 fee which paid for itself quickly - and could easily be viewed as a subscription fee). The other was a pure old school paper mag launch that found a sweet spot for southern upper income readers.

The entire fleet of mags owned by them are sick. ACG surprises me as its readership was the youngest. The rest of the mags have an average readership age the AARP would envy.

Unfortunately (for them) they didn't ask the guy with the MBA and a decade of online military history publishing experience what he thought.

<shrug> Their glidepath has been clear for a long time, and its slope is steeper because one of their top leaders proudly proclaims that they don't know about history nor do they need to...and apparently the ownership bought that line of reasoning.

Unfortunately there is no helping some people.

I'm sorry to read about the news. There were and I'm sure remain some good folks in that group. I wish them the best.

Game Informer launched in 1991. A lot has changed since then dude. Today we have major digital alternatives to printed publications. I suspect more and more people will be buying electronic subscriptions in the future. That is my point.

[BanzaiCat]

I had something like 18,000+ points in my GameStop account (thanks to my and my son's purchases over many years), so I spent 15K of it to upgrade to Platinum and get that Game Informer magazine (and discounts, yay).

My favorite mag was Command; I'd read it cover to cover. I think this was back in the mid-90s or so. Armchair General was decent enough but I never subscribed to it. The last print mag I subscribed to was World at War, but that's because I published an article in it and wanted to be sure I got a copy of it.  ;D

[LongBlade]

Game Informer launched in 1991. A lot has changed since then dude. Today we have major digital alternatives to printed publications. I suspect more and more people will be buying electronic subscriptions in the future. That is my point.

We are in complete agreement about how digital is replacing paper. However, the subscription explosion I mentioned took place about four years ago wrt Game Informer. Ditto Garden & Gun. My point is simply that even in the current environment where digital is replacing paper on a daily basis, paper mags can thrive if they do it right. That said, moving to digital is almost inevitable. Weider's problem is that although they wanted to go digital, they weren't doing so with a clear vision...or any vision. Their leadership was playing small ball when what they needed was bold, dramatic steps to change the direction of the company. Print mag or digital was relatively minor compared to the problems they were facing, but their management didn't understand that.

[mirth]

Game Informer was very good in it's day. So was ACG. I haven't looked at a print copy of either in several years.


As someone who grew up loving print media, I lament it's demise while accepting the inevitably of it. I still prefer reading print media over digital, but I realize I am a fossil.

[bayonetbrant]

a rare look inside the ACG corporate decision-making process

[mirth]

Looks like a pic from a management meeting at my company.

[BanzaiCat]

Any company, actually.

[mirth]

Tru dat.

[Pete Dero]

I still have a subscription running until mid 2016.  I haven't received mail or post about this and can't find any info on their site.
Anybody knows what happens now ?  Are there refunds ? 

[bayonetbrant]

I don't know.  I just copied the info from their site.  I suspect there's some more info over there for you, but you'd have to look for it.  Maybe they're going to substitute w/ another magazine?