How much does the internet matter for car publications?

[12,000 RPM]

I watch a good hour or so of Youtube a day for my various subscriptions...

There seems to be a kind of role reversal in the quality of the mags in video form vs paper form. I am subscribed to C&D and R&T on paper, because they have decent articles and I hate trying to read long articles on the computer. But their online presence is shit. They are inconsistent with video content. Motor Trend on the other hand has a terrible magazine, but they more than make up for it with their videos. They have a good consistent schedule, they generate interesting content, the stuff is well produced etc. I look forward to it.

Hell, even with video based car programs there's a difference. I used to like Top Gear, but when I need my tea and crumpets fix now I prever EVO's stuff, or even Chris Harris stuff on Drive. Top Gear is comically overproduced and seems to focus more on the hosts' personalities than the cars, which is cool, but not really what I'm interested in these days.

I don't know the $$$$ figures but MT has ~2 million YT subscribers and something like 500 million views (!!!!). I get the feeling their YT channel def gave them second wind.

Do you think online presence will be the deciding factor in the futures of magazines? I do....

[Raza]

For me, video content on the internet is completely ignored. I can't watch videos at work and when I got home, the last thing I want to do is stare at a computer.  I can read a quick article online while at work, so that's useful to me. 

[Byteme]

I prefer paper to the internet versions.  I get C&D, RT, MT, Automobile, Autoweek and Hemmings Sports and Exotic, all on paper.

I can pick one up anytime and instantly thumb through it, read it while on the crapper, in the tub, outside and not worry about the sun washing out the screen. Roll it up and stick it in my back pocket, set it down and walk away and not be worried about damqage of theft (it's cheap).  I'm reading what I want to read without playing with an electronic toy.  And I'm not pestered by a lot of annoying internet ads.

[ifcar]

I prefer to read rather than watch a video -- not just for car reviews but in general -- because it's easier to skim and jump around rather than go at their pace. They have some advantages, but reading just gives you a lot much more flexibility.

[GoCougs]

Online content is being displaced my smart device content it seems - M/T has a really slick iPad app (C&D and R&T apps both blow).

[MrH]

Good thread.  I meant to start one similar.

I much prefer video now.  I can only read about a car so much.  Video is a much better medium IMO to get the point across.  You can see features, hear the vehicle, watch how it slides out.  That's tough to convey into words.  But with written articles, you have all the time in the world to try and put it as eloquently as possible.  It's a hell of a lot harder to describe that while driving the car and give anything meaningful.  There's few people who do it well, but the ones who do make for an awesome video. 

Chris Harris, Carlos Lago, Henry Catchpole, and Harry Metcalfe are my favorites.  Jonny Liebermann isn't bad either.

I subscribe to a handful of channels of YouTube.  And now, I watch YouTube more than I do TV it seems.  Here's what I've narrowed down as the good car shit worth following:

-Motor Trend (magazine is garbage, but I like their videos a lot)
-EVO
-Drive (Hands down the best one out there)
-Autocar
-XCar (Pretty new, but they produce some good stuff)
-The Smoking Tire
-Winding Road (just does POV driving of different cars, but it's interesting to see sightlines, sounds, etc of all sorts of things)

This usually provides me a couple hours of solid entertainment a week.  And with Chromecast, now I usually just que up a few good videos and watch them while I eat dinner.

Anyone else have some YouTube channels worth watching?  I'm always looking to add to the list.

[Laconian]

I can't watch videos on the toilet at work.

[Byteme]

I can't watch videos on the toilet at work.

I used to print chapters of Jules Verne books at work to take to the crapper.  That's how I read Around The World in 80 Days, Twenty Thousand Leagues Under the Sea, and Journey to the Center of the Earth.   

[12,000 RPM]

I can't watch videos on the toilet at work.

You dont have Google Nexus Cinemaplex?

@Mr H... I prefer Jonny Leiberman to Carlos Lago. Sometimes Carlos really forces his laughs. MT is definitely way way way ahead of the curve with their online content though. It's like a totally different magazine.

Paper mags get kind of boring. A lot of times it all kind of follows the same arc. They force some narrative of the setting in with the usual sequence... where the car was driven, how the car is better than the last one, performance, handling, interior, "this car is awesome, buuuut"... Videos are probably more formulaic, but as Mr H said the sights AND sounds kind of make up for it.

MT's motorcycle vids are great too, but sadly since they don't have the audience (or I guess it's the off season) they have slowed up on those.

[Colin]

When I heard Steve Cropley giving a lecture a couple of weeks ago, he was asked a question very similar to this..... he said that Autocar now makes more money from their website than they do from the printed magazine, but that he could not see a future without the printed mag altogether. Among other points that came up, he said that the real competition among the various publishers is to be the first to get a story out, and the advantage that weeklies such as Autocar (and Motor) used to enjoy over monthlies such as Car have now gone. However, we went on to say that because of the online world, the potential is now global for anything that is written. Autocar now publish version of their mag in over a dozen countries, but they know that the UK base is still seen as very important, and they get over 1 million hits on their website very day.

The new era that is emerging calls for some new skills. Speed to write a story has become very important (no excuse of "Ive got writer's block" is going to help progress an individual's career very far!), and he did talk at some length about how the core skill is still an ability to write in an way that is compelling. Although he stopped short of saying it quite as bluntly as this, too many journos are car enthusiasts who have failed to understand that the career "motoring journalist" should be dominated by skills in the second of those and not the first, and there are a whole bunch of boy racers whose ability to write is pretty marginal - which is why a lot of what gets produced is pretty forumlaic, or boring (or simply regurgitation of PR spin from press releases). It has always been much easier to teach a journalist to drive than a driver to write. Occasionally, a new talent emerges who can do both. Step forward Chris Harris!     

[cawimmer430]

The only car magazines that I read tend to be classic car-focused and Ramp.

Everything else just bores me with their extreme focus on handling and performance. Seriously, when I there's a comparison between a family-friendly turbodiesel-powered Audi A6 Avant, BMW 5er Touring and Mercedes E-Class T-Modell, I really don't care which car oversteers in extreme cornering or what their track times are or how fast they reach 100 km/h. It seems to me that the testers reviewing these cars spend the majority of the articles time on this subject.

It's boring.

And lame.

Classic car magazines on the other hand provide a more friendly and neutral perspective on the cars that they review which I like.


When it comes to modern automotive journalists, I think Chris Harris is pretty much at the top. I like his objective and fairly non-biased and open-minded approach to the cars that he reviews.