Palin Feature Helps Runner's World Boost Circulation

[rudawal]

What does this say about track fans?

[gh]

I don't think track fans are likely to read Runner's World. (of course, not enough read T&FN either!)

RW is made for participants, not spectators; the crossover between the two groups is exceedingly minimal (which is why track meets continue not to draw much in the way of crowds even though on the surface it would seem there are so many fans).

[rudawal]

Perhaps T&FN should do what [i]RW[/i has done and what NBC did in the Olympics - aim for people outside their regular target segment. NBC managed to infuriate diehard fans with their delayed coverage and their human interest stories. The fact that they managed to break all viewership records is a clear indication that they did the right thing from a purely business standpoint. The track fan's support was already guaranteed, despite all the fuming. What NBC wanted were the housewives who had never heard of Usain Bolt, but who cared that some third string athlete's uncle had cancer.

[Marlow]

Perhaps T&FN should do what RW has done and what NBC did in the Olympics - aim for people outside their regular target segment

Oh yes, please dumb down T&FN so that it doesn't serve the core clientele any more! Print magazines are dodos anyway, so no matter what you do, as long as it is still about T&F, it won't get more subs anyway. Magazines will almost all be on the web in the next 20 (or fewer!) years anyway, so the solution is how to best charge $$$ for the content on this site. The problem is redundancy - the fact that if they go to pay here, other sites will offer the same info for free, because they have less overhead and can 'live' off the ad revenue. Eventually T&FN will just be gh hunched over his Mac, crunching numbers into the wee hours, for just the few of us here who regularly visit. I'll pay, but few others will.

[rudawal]

Quit trying to buck the system. Is it too late for T&FN to do a Michael Jackson cover story?

[Halfmiler2]

Quit trying to buck the system. Is it too late for T&FN to do a Michael Jackson cover story?

The above may seem ridiculous, but I bet T&FN could attract some folks outside their core readers by doing a monthly feature on a celebrity who is a former t&f athlete.