Sad Lads: American Media Pulls the Plug on MPH Magazine
Date posted: 04-05-2006

DETROIT — American Media has shut the fledgling automotive magazine MPH, along with several other publications, including Celebrity Living Weekly, according to Advertising Age.

MPH, which took much of its fresh and sardonic voice from talented Automobile Magazine alumnus Eddie Alterman, was an experiment in a way to aim an auto publication at its young, male audience. Among the features in the mag and its Web site were "Backseat Betty," a series of interviews with scantily clad young women with bad driving records, and diaries of staffers' searches for filling stations that carry ethanol.

The loss of MPH, which has been likened by some of the auto blogs to "road kill," is a sign of the seismic shift going on in the publishing world as the shakeout between the Internet and traditional journalism continues. American Media is the parent of the National Enquirer, which is also being shaken up this week.

What this means to you: The death of MPH should be mourned by enthusiasts, since it brought a fresh perspective to the business. And it would be safe to say there were some fans out here in California.





MPH magazine, which came in both print and on-line versions, is the victim of corporate reorganizing. Its fans will be hard pressed to find a replacement for "Backseat Betty" anytime soon--at least if they require there to be a car in the pictures. (Photo courtesy of MPH)

 

hmm never even heard of that mag.

 

never heard of it

 

And in other news Car and Driver has pulled the plug on Brock Yates. I kinda liked him.

 

Uhh... MPH sucks imo. I checked out a few issues @ borders/barnes & noble. Overall quality is just very eh/poor--photos, layout, design, articles, organization, etc.

 

What? Why? The guy was a part of that mag!

And never heard of MPH, sorry.

 

Seriously? Brock gave us Cannonball run and One Lap of America. I don't think they liked his conservative views.

Oh...MPH who?

 

That's a possibility. That said, MPH was one of the lease impressive car mags I've had the displeasure of thumbing through at the newstand. Goodbye MPH.

 

I picked up the latest issue last week and sent in for a subscription to it! Sh*t, now what!

 

He's been there since the 60's. Said they offered him early retirement. They brought in an executive editor from Automobile and gave Brock the boot. Hard to believe they could get rid of a pure car guy like Brock. He'll end up somewhere else I bet.

 

The internet.

 

prob will start his own magazine