Model Railroading > Kalmbach / Ken Patterson

December's "Model Railroader" Magazine surprised us with a few more tidbits relative to the move/new owners.
The poor Kalmbach employees learned almost a year ago that their building was going to be sold.  So in the midst
of packing up to move, the other shoe drops (so to speak) and they find out that the magazines are going away as well!
Got to give them credit for sticking around to see what else was lurking just around the corner!

Have you noticed the introduction of some new advertisers to MR?  Some appear to be "gifts" from Firecrown to their
current list of advertisers in their air and boat magazines as they don't have the least connection to Railroading.
And then, right on page 3 you have "What's Neat This Week" with Ken Patterson and friends. 300 episodes would
indicate they have been around for about 6 years that   it took a new ownership of the magazine to see them advertise,
is there a story there?

One last thing:  have you noticed the center pages of MR falling out?  No, it's  not because they have added pages, the
staples probably have short legs.  Thanks for the plastic bag that MR and Trains arrived in.  Kalmbach used to do that
years ago.  I'm stepping down from my soapbox now.

Frank30

Which magazines are being dropped?

Ken Patterson's WNTW has been running in the online magazine Model Railroad Hobbyist for years.  To my knowledge, this is the first time there has been any mention in Model Railroader.  He's very good at attracting sponsors.

How do you determine some ads are gifts?

Gerry

He used to be a car salesman or realtor I think.  Ken is good at the gift of gab but it comes off to me and many as cheesy and overkill.  His entire show is like watching one long advertisement that is why his numbers dont move much. Someone that regularly appears on his show said the ads are not paid for, and a LHS owner I know said one company was a little miffed he got it for free when they had paid MR thousands for the same ad.  So if true, Ken Patterson is getting those ads for free. It's not much help in my personal opinion, it won't help his show to get any more attention just like every other ad in MR which is ineffective.  MR as a magazine a few months in to this Firecrown sale was just as bad this month as prior months.  Lack of quality articles and a total of 70 pages filled with whomever they can still convince to advertise with them in this digital age.

CSN



Edited 4 time(s). Last edit at 11/07/24 05:27 by CO1309.

It is not the digital age killing the advertizing - it's the rates ! circulation is down, yet the ad rates do not reflect this. the compition has a higher circulationa nd the rates are priced to cover all the magazine offerings. Business is all about getting the message out and a better return on investment>

Agreed.  The only reason Kalmbach is still around at all is advertising is a tax write off for the companies paying. Because the results are definately not compelling.
original Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> It is not the digital age killing the advertizing
> - it's the rates ! circulation is down, yet the ad
> rates do not reflect this. the compition has a
> higher circulationa nd the rates are priced to
> cover all the magazine offerings. Business is all
> about getting the message out and a better return
> on investment>


 

Frank30 Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------

> And then, right on page 3 you have "What's Neat
> This Week" with Ken Patterson and friends. 
> Frank30

Another reason not to buy the Magazine. I quit watching the Ken Patterson content years ago when he was crying he couldn't make a living in the model railroad industry from his photography, and then went on to a Go-Fund Me campaign, and then started selling his podcast airtime to sponsors. If you have a new or cool product, Ken isn't going to feature it without payment first.



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 11/07/24 14:53 by M-636.

Frank30:
Yes, you're not the only one whose MR falls apart these days.  I don't save them any more, so I don't really care, but if I did save 'em, I'd be rather PO'd about the pages not hanging together like they used to.  Maybe yet another "sign of the times" with regard to MR's status?  (And not to start an MR vs. RMC thread, but I've noted that my RMCs, which I do save these days, seem to hold together very well!)
   Doug  

M-636 Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> Frank30 Wrote:
> --------------------------------------------------
> -----
>
> > And then, right on page 3 you have "What's Neat
> > This Week" with Ken Patterson and friends. 
> > Frank30
>
> Another reason not to buy the Magazine. I quit
> watching the Ken Patterson content years ago when
> he was crying he couldn't make a living in the
> model railroad industry from his photography, and
> then went on to a Go-Fund Me campaign, and then
> started selling his podcast airtime to sponsors.
> If you have a new or cool product, Ken isn't going
> to feature it without payment first.

I gave up when every episode was becoming a 30 minute ad for NCE. Don't get me wrong it's a fine product but when every subject lead to "and we can run that with our NCE DCC system!" It got old fast.

Posted from Android

I first received an annual subscription to Model Railroader as a Christmas present from my mom in 1984 and either she or my wife have renewed it for 39 years. This year I told them it was time for something else...

I am sad that this tradition had to end but the last few years were a slog and, quite frankly, if it wasn't a gift I doubt I would have bought it myself.

Posted from Android

They put us in this position by producing poor quality articles, more ads and less pages.  It's not your fault you did what's right.  You have to send a signal to straighten up or don't bother producing a magazine at all.  It will take some time but Firecrown will realize this is a money losing venture.

shortlineer Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> I first received an annual subscription to Model
> Railroader as a Christmas present from my mom in
> 1984 and either she or my wife have renewed it for
> 39 years. This year I told them it was time for
> something else...
>
> I am sad that this tradition had to end but the
> last few years were a slog and, quite frankly, if
> it wasn't a gift I doubt I would have bought it
> myself.
>
> Posted from Android