Switching up the standard media life cycle, a hit YouTube series is about to spawn its own print magazine.
Next month, El Segundo publisher and media production firm The Enthusiast Network, or TEN, will publish the first issue of quarterly magazine “Roadkill,” part of a multi-media expansion of the YouTube automotive adventure show of the same name. The expansion also includes a new Roadkill website and a series of live events, including a forthcoming car festival.
The monthly show, launched in 2012, draws an average of 3 million viewers per episode, TEN said in a statement.
“We are taking a highly successful original video series and transforming it into a socially amplified media brand with a 360-degree platform that reaches consumers at every touchpoint,” said Angus MacKenzie, the company’s chief content officer, in a statement.
The magazine marks a reversal of sorts for TEN, formerly Source Interlink Media. The company, which publishes magazines including Motor Trend and Hot Rod, has been diversifying from its core print business and last year hired a new chief executive, Scott Dickey, with plans to further boost its digital offerings.
Now, one of those digital offerings is leading back to ink and paper.
“This is a prime example of a successful digital-first approach from a legacy publisher,” Dickey said in a statement. “TEN is leading the way in making the transformation from a legacy publishing business model to a multiplatform content creation and media distribution enterprise.”