Rachel_Sandford
News Hound
Earlier this year, BSkyB announced that it would be discontinuing publication of Sky Sports Magazine and Sky Movies Magazine. Both magazines were launched in January 2007, with the former being produced in-house and the latter being published by Future Publishing. Up until the time they were discontinued, both magazines enjoyed a circulation of four million subscribers.
As part of the changes, the broadcaster also announced that they would be changing Sky Magazine, Britain's biggest circulation title, to a quarterly magazine instead of a monthly one beginning August of this year. Now, however, it seems that Sky has changed its mind altogether. Sky Magazine subscribers have all been given letters explaining that Sky Magazine is also closing.
The magazine, which had a peak distribution of nearly eight million a month just two years ago, is no longer profitable for Sky. Given Postcomm's approval of increasing the Royal Mail's prices for bulk mail as well as the increasing price of paper, cost for printing has gone up. Ans since Sky has frozen subscriber prices for 12 months, they do need to cut costs and save money. Cutting the magazine is definitely one way to do this.
“We considered publishing a quarterly customer magazine to replace the monthly Sky Magazine,” said a Sky spokesperson. “But as a company that sits at the heart of digital entertainment and communications, we've decided to follow our customers online. Web and mobile platforms offer us a more immediate and engaging way to communicate with our customers, so this is our focus moving forward.”
This year also saw the launch of a weekly email for Sky subscribers called My Sky Week. This was packed with information on programme highlights, and it also offered links for content typically found in their magazines. The company also provided a TV Guide on Sky.com and created a customer service mobile app for its subscribers.
It is not known how many have lost their jobs due to the closures of the magazine or if the web platforms have absorbed any of the jobs.
As part of the changes, the broadcaster also announced that they would be changing Sky Magazine, Britain's biggest circulation title, to a quarterly magazine instead of a monthly one beginning August of this year. Now, however, it seems that Sky has changed its mind altogether. Sky Magazine subscribers have all been given letters explaining that Sky Magazine is also closing.
The magazine, which had a peak distribution of nearly eight million a month just two years ago, is no longer profitable for Sky. Given Postcomm's approval of increasing the Royal Mail's prices for bulk mail as well as the increasing price of paper, cost for printing has gone up. Ans since Sky has frozen subscriber prices for 12 months, they do need to cut costs and save money. Cutting the magazine is definitely one way to do this.
“We considered publishing a quarterly customer magazine to replace the monthly Sky Magazine,” said a Sky spokesperson. “But as a company that sits at the heart of digital entertainment and communications, we've decided to follow our customers online. Web and mobile platforms offer us a more immediate and engaging way to communicate with our customers, so this is our focus moving forward.”
This year also saw the launch of a weekly email for Sky subscribers called My Sky Week. This was packed with information on programme highlights, and it also offered links for content typically found in their magazines. The company also provided a TV Guide on Sky.com and created a customer service mobile app for its subscribers.
It is not known how many have lost their jobs due to the closures of the magazine or if the web platforms have absorbed any of the jobs.
