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US and UK business models are different

Posted by Ross on March 9, 2017 at 19:53:14:
In the US, its all about selling eyeballs to advertisers. Gather more eyeballs and your ad rates can go up, providing more operating income. I would not be surprised if a $9.95 subscription to SP does not cover the cost of production or mail delivery.

In the UK, subscription and retail issue sales revenue are a much higher portion of operating revenue. Another difference is much less content on UK audiomag websites compared to US mags.

I get there shouldn't be much difference in cost for a digital subscriptions across continents. Consider that many of the components reviewed are for targeted markets, and some advertisers may not want a review of a UK focused component to be available to a US based reader. I would think more exposure is better, but then you have keen eyed readers who compare prices and wonder why components like speakers, phono cartridges or pair of headphones may cost 1000 pounds in the UK and $2000 in the US when there are no electrical differences to take into account.

I have read HiFi+ since the first or second issue. I noticed a distinct change when the founder sold to TAS. It is still a better mag than most, but in my opinion not a good as it used to be.

HFNRR, HiFi World, and HiFi Choice have fewer editorial pages than US magazines, and their reviews are about 50% shorter in length. At least for the first 2, brevity does not stand in the way of gaining an insight into how the component sounds in system.