Next Ultimate Guide

[admin_exported]

Am I right to think that there'll be an Ultimate Guide to HiFi out soon?

Hedgehog

 

[Andrew Everard]

One for you, Mr Kerr...

 

[Andy Clough]

As Mr Kerr is not around, I'll answer in his absence. I understand there will be two Ultimate Guides this year, one on TVs in the summer in time for the World Cup, and one on Blu-ray and home cinema in the run-up to Christmas.

I don't have the exact publication dates to hand, but I'm sure the other Andy will be along soon with the details.

 

[Anonymous]

Thanks, Andy. For some reason I thought that there were six every year, and since the last UG to Hifi was in March 2009, I thought a new edition was on the cards...pity!

Hedgehog

 

[JoelSim]

Andy Clough:
As Mr Kerr is not around, I'll answer in his absence. I understand there will be two Ultimate Guides this year, one on TVs in the summer in time for the World Cup, and one on Blu-ray and home cinema in the run-up to Christmas.

I don't have the exact publication dates to hand, but I'm sure the other Andy will be along soon with the details.

Hmmm. That's a very poor show.

 

[Clare Newsome]

JoelSim:
Hmmm. That's a very poor show.

No, it's not a poor show, it's pure business.

It may have come to your attention that the industry is (only just) limping out of a horrific recession, and the hi-fi market was as badly hit as other sectors.

Therefore we're not publishing an Ultimate Guide to Hi-fi this Spring - there's just not the level of extra advertising to support it right now, to the extent a publication of its size/quality/reach needs.

Yes, we could have still published it with fewer ads, but we'd have had to charge a LOT more for it - and we didn't think you lovely magazine buyers would appreciate that!

It's obviously a different case in other areas we cover - eg TVs and newer tech - so we'll be publishing those as normal, plus a very special high-end guide in the summer.

I'll be writing a blog about the state of 2009 sales in the hi-fi industry very soon - we're just getting final figures and analysis - but if I tell you that the iPod dock/speaker market is now bigger than the entire hi-fi and AV separates market (including speakers and speaker packages), you get the gist.

 

[professorhat]

How does that affect those of us who subscribe, Clare - will it just auto-renew but charge us less? Or do we need to do something?

Thanks!

 

[Clare Newsome]

Various options - letter should be on way to you from our subscriptions people; let me know if you haven't heard in a week or so.

 

[professorhat]

Gotcha - cheers!

 

[JoelSim]

Clare Newsome:JoelSim:
Hmmm. That's a very poor show.

I'll be writing a blog about the state of 2009 sales in the hi-fi industry very soon - we're just getting final figures and analysis - but if I tell you that the iPod dock/speaker market is now bigger than the entire hi-fi and AV separates market (including speakers and speaker packages), you get the gist.

Not really surprising as the iPod is a commodity.

I'm just disappointed Clare. Just feels like a purely economic rather that reader focused decision. I'd happily pay an extra £ as would many others.

Anyway, I've said my piece now.

 

[Andrew Everard]

Of course we are focused on the readers. But if a title can't make money in current circs, as Clare said, business requirements take over.

And I suspect it would take more than just a pound on the cover price...

 

[Anonymous]

Sorry I missed this thread developing last night. It's worth adding that the current situation is, I've been assured, a temporary reflection on recent economic conditions rather than any long-term reflection on the Ultimate Guides themselves. Hopefully, if things level out, we'll be able to return to our standard six issue frequency - or possibly even more, depending on reader demand.

 

[Anonymous]

By the way: Prof, no offence, but that new avatar of yours is, well, a bit creepy.

 

[professorhat]

Good stuff - tbh, I was getting a bit worried about gel in another thread - thought this might put him off...

 

[Anonymous]

Clare Newsome:

I'll be writing a blog about the state of 2009 sales in the hi-fi industry very soon - we're just getting final figures and analysis - but if I tell you that the iPod dock/speaker market is now bigger than the entire hi-fi and AV separates market (including speakers and speaker packages), you get the gist.

I'd be interested in seeing this blog post, that the ipod dock market is larger than the rest of the hifi and av market is fascinating.

What should the trad hifi market have done differently. it seems mainly non-hifi gadget companies that have the bulk of this lower end market?

 

[Clare Newsome]

Personally, I feel too many traditional audio companies saw the iPod/internet as a threat, rather than an opportunity. That left a computer company - and its acolytes - free to become the biggest audio brand/grab the biggest share of the market.

Anyway...blog in progress; possibly up later today.

 

[Anonymous]

thanks, you are probably right. Too much focus on the need for quality rather than ease of use

EDITED BY MODS - House Rules

That downloads took off because of ease of use and we did not go to the next highest level of (physical) quality threw a lot of people, but to be fair they have had 9 years to figure this out. The B&W zeppelin is a good example of a decent response, I'd love to see more systems like it.

looking forward to the post,

thanks Gavin

 

[Clare Newsome]

Blog now live here

 

[Zubkabera]

Deeply disappointed with WHF decision not to publish Ultimate Guide to Hi-fi, I have been waiting for this since Novemer'09, guess money talks

why can't you just combine new tech or home cinema with hifi, IMO new tech was just rubish, all the things mentioned were available for more then a year and I have no idea who and how someone sponsored it, when there are so many companies still making stereo amps and cd players yet WHF disrespects them.

I think you should change your mag name to What TV and New Tech, because it doesn't suits What HiFi when you care about more about sponsor then your name.

I will look to other mags who still care about HiFi.

 

[Andrew Everard]

Umm, we don't have any sponsors, so I'm at a loss to understand the point you're making. And the fact remains that we review more hi-fi in a year than any of the other magazines out there - if you want to look at it that way, all the other stuff is a bonus.