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  1. #1
    Managing Dir., Rx Muscle Forums Curt James's Avatar
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    Default In the MD Wheel of Fortune(less)... who's next to be released?

    Several athletes have been released by MD. Who's next?

    A better question, perhaps, is "Who's LEFT?" Who are the athletes still on MD's payroll? Dennis Wolf. Who else? And, yes, who do you think will be dropped next?




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    Who's left?? I'll guess Vic will be gone soon ..

  3. #3
    OLYMPIAN weezer's Avatar
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    I'm sure they got some great parting gifts.

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    LEGEND Poker face Ace's Avatar
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    Wow, MD is really getting hit hard

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    I wish you could just get on with some positive promotion of the athletes Curt and stop picking on them

    Quote Originally Posted by Curt James View Post
    Several athletes have been released by MD. Who's next?

    A better question, perhaps, is "Who's LEFT?" Who are the athletes still on MD's payroll? Dennis Wolf. Who else? And, yes, who do you think will be dropped next?




  6. #6
    OLYMPIAN EvanL's Avatar
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    I picked up the latest issue. It has some good articles, Dan Solomon had a nice piece on the NBC Olympia debacle but the magazine is 100 pages of ads and I for one would rather have candid gym shots of pros working out rather than these staged photos of then all oiled up and making ridiculous faces. I know that's the magazine game but ehh

  7. #7
    musclesportmag.com Joe Pietaro's Avatar
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    Quote Originally Posted by EvanL View Post
    I picked up the latest issue. It has some good articles, Dan Solomon had a nice piece on the NBC Olympia debacle but the magazine is 100 pages of ads and I for one would rather have candid gym shots of pros working out rather than these staged photos of then all oiled up and making ridiculous faces. I know that's the magazine game but ehh
    I know that people complain about the amount of ads in magazines but that is what makes the wheels turn. Without them, there are no magazines. So while Brand X does have less pages than it did a few issues back, it is minus ads and editorial.

    In publishing, you have to have a certain equation of ads to editorial to offset the printing costs or else you are taking it in the ass every issue. So while I am certainly not defending my former employer, I am just speaking in general terms as a fellow magazine publisher.

  8. #8
    Managing Dir., Rx Muscle Forums Curt James's Avatar
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    Quote Originally Posted by Musclepapa John View Post
    I wish you could just get on with some positive promotion of the athletes Curt and stop picking on them
    You're intelligent. I'm sure you can see the difference between this thread and your ten or twenty "AdinaStevePeterMcBaye was mean to me" threads. ;-)

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    LOL. Mischaracterization smart guy as I was being mean to them would be a better characterization. This in fact is your followup thread to "we got some facts wrong about the Evan situation" and deleted that thread, but here is a crumb for you.
    Even if the exclusive contracts to the 12 or so athletes combined for video interviews and workout video production (that's later stolen on youtube anyhow) go away can we expect to see even more coverage of them here? In the spirit of #whycutback why is Rx considering cutting back show coverage? You are merely giving them what they want and Bob's correct that the federation participants and fans want to see more coverage not less. They are laughing at the lifeline Rx is providing them.

    Quote Originally Posted by Curt James View Post
    You're intelligent. I'm sure you can see the difference between this thread and your ten or twenty "AdinaStevePeterMcBaye was mean to me" threads. ;-)
    Last edited by Musclepapa John; 01-14-2015 at 09:33 AM.

  10. #10
    OLYMPIAN Poptart's Avatar
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    I never worked for Brand X and don't have any other inside information, but if I was consulting them, my advice would be get rid of all the exclusive long term contracts. I don't care how rich you are no one likes to waste money. There are simply not getting a return on investment by paying a select group of bodybuilders monthly to keep them away from other media outlets. Sorry, but how many times can you look at a rehashed BS workout and photo shoot of the same athlete. If an athlete is contributing other content (ie. articles); actively interacting with fans and in general promoting your brand, ok then maybe he's worth it.

    As far as the ads, Joe is 100% right that is how magazines and media outlets make money so there I don't mind them. It's the uncreative and bland articles that they put out that has turned off their readership and made them irrelevant.

    MPJ: As to your comment on show coverage, you are way off base. While it does appear that Rx is cutting back (and yes they should). They didn't state "Why Cut Back?" and then hypocritically cut coverage and terminate employees, they came right out and stated this is why we are eliminating these people and coverage. If the organizations wanted more coverage than they would have supported Rx from the beginning, not banned them from the biggest show in the game and limited their access to the athletes.

  11. #11
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    Unless they focus way more on showing these guys in the off season in more "real" photos than the staged ones, they might as well close their doors.

    Internet erased my need to buy the mags. I also remember being that real skinny kid who felt strange buying one in the grocery store so I am sure all of the kids like that will avoid it even more now.

    They need to overhaul how they approach coverage.

    I just might pay to see pros in more real world settings and while training without the props and airbrushing.

    I'm not paying real money to get fake pictures and magic feather of the month supplements.

  12. #12
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    Quote Originally Posted by Poptart View Post
    I never worked for Brand X and don't have any other inside information, but if I was consulting them, my advice would be get rid of all the exclusive long term contracts. I don't care how rich you are no one likes to waste money. There are simply not getting a return on investment by paying a select group of bodybuilders monthly to keep them away from other media outlets. Sorry, but how many times can you look at a rehashed BS workout and photo shoot of the same athlete. If an athlete is contributing other content (ie. articles); actively interacting with fans and in general promoting your brand, ok then maybe he's worth it.
    Ending the mag contracts for a handful of ARM and AMI athletes won't generate more coverage of them elsewhere. I agree that in many ways it can be considered a waste of money for those media properties though.

    Quote Originally Posted by Poptart View Post
    As far as the ads, Joe is 100% right that is how magazines and media outlets make money so there I don't mind them. It's the uncreative and bland articles that they put out that has turned off their readership and made them irrelevant.
    I agree with yours and Joes' advertising comments, but the market for the bland articles is the the future essentially with verifiable value with link backs from social media to these rehashed blurbs targeting largely the newer competitors not the seasoned old timers that aren't buying products anyhow.

    Quote Originally Posted by Poptart View Post
    MPJ: As to your comment on show coverage, you are way off base. While it does appear that Rx is cutting back (and yes they should). They didn't state "Why Cut Back?" and then hypocritically cut coverage and terminate employees, they came right out and stated this is why we are eliminating these people and coverage. If the organizations wanted more coverage than they would have supported Rx from the beginning, not banned them from the biggest show in the game and limited their access to the athletes.
    It could have as easily been construed from Steve's message to Chris of #whycutback that he was specifically referring to NPC & IFBB contest coverage NOT anything to do with cutting back on exclusive contracts that you and Dave agree shouldn't exist in the first place. Its not the "organizations" responsibility to court people to cover the contests, but to strive and keep some order amongst those of use that do. My biggest issue with MD is not that they should or should not cut back, but rather that they and everyone else should be more effective in their coverage and not seemingly bite the hand that feeds them, which has been construed as what Rx has done again and again. Why should Rx get in trouble for poo poo'ing NBC coverage of the Olympia as they did? For the same reason McGough when running the show at AMI cut MDs press passes over comments that he felt were injurious to that brand that year. Taking your marbles and going home isn't a way to win a fight and neither is hollering hypocrite even where valid. Unless Rx is going to strictly focus on non NPC & IFBB content doing less coverage only helps their once perceived competition. Failure or success of any of these media properties has less to do with the organizations then our own creativity in covering a huge market that is bodybuilding, fitness, figure, bikini & physique & props to Dave for doing things different if its indeed profitable and satisfying for him
    Last edited by Musclepapa John; 01-14-2015 at 01:14 PM.

  13. #13
    OLYMPIAN Poptart's Avatar
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    Ending the mag contracts for a handful of ARM and AMI athletes won't generate more coverage of them elsewhere. I agree that in many ways it can be considered a waste of money for those media properties though
    That is going to depend on the athlete. It's all about what the athlete is doing or willing to do to generate the exposure. For certain seasoned pros, exclusive contracts may in fact make sense, but that is not the case for the majority.

    As for bland articles being the future. If that is the case, no one will buy them.

    I agree with you about Steve's comments. However, none of us will really know the true context in which they were intended so we are left with the interpretation provided by Dave and Chris, which frankly doesn't seem so far fetched.

    I do however completely disagree with where you are coming from with the remark about more effective contest coverage and biting the hand that feeds you. If Rx doesn't cover the shows, if MD cuts back on coverage, you really think that that hurts them more than the organization? I'm far from an expert in the inner workings of this industry, but you don't have to be a private investigator to piece together a lot of what goes on.

  14. #14
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    Quote Originally Posted by Poptart View Post
    That is going to depend on the athlete. It's all about what the athlete is doing or willing to do to generate the exposure. For certain seasoned pros, exclusive contracts may in fact make sense, but that is not the case for the majority.
    The only ones being signed by those two ownership groups to these convoluted-as-swiss-cheese exclusive agreements for interviews and specialty workout & lifestyle videos are the minority of athletes at the top of their game or perceived to be the next Olympia winner (212 in Flex Lewis case, but not Jose's apparently). They for the most part don't need the contracts. Its extra money for them or should be if they are doing their own marketing correctly. This isn't the guy who won his first national show we are talking about, but Sandow winners, Arnold winners and top contenders.

    Quote Originally Posted by Poptart View Post
    As for bland articles being the future. If that is the case, no one will buy them.
    Wrong. There is a revolving door of newbies in the 18-30 year old demo that these appeal to who buy the majority of advertisers wares anyhow. You don't need a signed athlete to generate it when as Joe noted the media properties have extensive libraries of photos and written word that the resident shadow writers, editors, interns, etc can reformulate.

    Quote Originally Posted by Poptart View Post
    I agree with you about Steve's comments. However, none of us will really know the true context in which they were intended so we are left with the interpretation provided by Dave and Chris, which frankly doesn't seem so far fetched.
    What I provided was the interpretation Dave and Chris provided. Dave was noting he was cutting back and the #whycutback is actually a dig on Steve for suggesting there was no reason to cut back on coverage even though he has indeed cut back on exclusive contracts and page count for the mag while their forum and web property views go through the roof "like never before" during contest coverage.

    Quote Originally Posted by Poptart View Post
    I do however completely disagree with where you are coming from with the remark about more effective contest coverage and biting the hand that feeds you. If Rx doesn't cover the shows, if MD cuts back on coverage, you really think that that hurts them more than the organization? I'm far from an expert in the inner workings of this industry, but you don't have to be a private investigator to piece together a lot of what goes on.
    The federation memberships are at a historic high. They are doing quite well with new and renewing members and there are more shows than ever with greater numbers of competitors at all levels than ever before. No I don't think the organization is hurting regardless of who covers the sport and they aren't doing well necessarily due to the coverage of any of these properties. They have their own NPC NEWS ONLINE and people in the trenches like me and so many others that will continue to provide photo & video regardless as that's how we make our living.
    Last edited by Musclepapa John; 01-14-2015 at 03:07 PM.

  15. #15
    musclesportmag.com Joe Pietaro's Avatar
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    I still subscribe to the mindset that if the editorial is well-written, interesting, edgy, unique and willing to do shit that the other publications are either unwilling or unable to do, people will read it. Now that doesn't mean that they will spend money to do so, hence the reason why I made my magazine free and also do not have any 'subscription-only' sections of my website, including the online version of the magazine.

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