Is publishing giant EMAP (FHM,
Empire, Heat etc) about to add serious skiers' favourite
Fall Line to their collection?
Rumours have reached
Natives of a change of ownership in the world of print
and online publishing. The deal would see both Fall
Line and their new magazine, document.snowboarding
come into the EMAP fold and could have a major impact
on the industry.
Snowboard UK
would certainly suffer. Already weakened by the loss
of key staff this summer, the marketing power of EMAP
to push document.snowboarding will put it under further
pressure. The Daily Mail Ski Magazine could
also be in for a shock if EMAP follows up a proposal
to buy the rights to the ski show and rebrand it through
Fall Line.
There would also
be changes online. Fall Line's website is currently
a mirror of UK website Complete Skier, rival
to EMAP's own ski website 1Ski. If the
deal goes through, 1Ski would also be rebranded as
Fall Line and the current partners would be in direct
competition.
The other major
UK ski magazine, The Good Ski Guide, is about
to become an online player itself with the relaunch
of its own website after a £200,000 redesign.
It certainly looks
as if the autumn should see a shakedown. Watch this
space for more news...
