Image via Hearst Magazines, Facebook
Upheaval seems to be in the air everywhere these days, including in automotive media, so it’s not entirely surprising that MotorTrend Group has been sold by Warner Bros. Discovery. The new owner is Hearst Magazines, which you might already know owns Car and Driver and Road & Track (and our personal fave, Cosmopolitan).
Collector cars totaled by Hurricane Helene are heartbreaking.
Already, Hearst has boasted that it’s “the nation’s most influential automotive media company” with a reach of 163 million readers worldwide just with its other two magazines. Now that it’s added MotorTrend to the portfolio, that reach has increased significantly.
However, in case you haven’t noticed traditional media across the board has been in retreat for some time. This includes not only TV and newspapers but also magazines. And while these titles have adapted to the digital world with robust websites, the ground keeps shifting for them and everyone else.
In other words, it’s possible this acquisition is necessary to maintain a foothold in a shrinking automotive media segment. We can’t imagine a company owning all three major car magazine titles at the same time 30 or even 20 years ago, yet here we are at the close of 2024.
The rumor is this deal still won’t reverse the decision to shutter MotorTrend’s production company, which killed off Roadkill much to the disappointment of fans. Of course, at this point anything could happen, especially under new leadership, but we wouldn’t hold our breaths for another season of Roadkill.
With the landscape of media shifting rapidly, we wonder if more consolidations among traditional automotive media outlets isn’t on the near horizon. Many aren’t excited for MotorTrend to be part of Hearst, declaring the ownership as “soulless” and ruining Car and Driver as well as Road & Track.
We’re sure changes are coming for MotorTrend, but we’ll have to wait and see exactly what those are as the transition of ownership takes place.
Image via Hearst Magazines, Facebook
