all talk and no action

Gary Marshall has already posted about the closure of Smash Hits magazine, and of course it's been all over the news. But one thing I find odd is that while so many people are talking about how it's been killed by the internet, it's not the end of Smash Hits; it's the end of the paper version. The brand will continue as Smash Hits music TV, the web site and a digital radio station, according to Emap, which publishes the title. So actually the internet has done the opposite of killing the title -- it's given it a new way to interact with its audience.

There have been similar discussions about newspapers losing readers to the internet. I'm guilty of that migration: I read the Guardian online during the week and only buy the paper version at the weekend. But in both cases, I'm still a Guardian reader.

I think you're being too nice - the site is piss-poor - essentially an ecommerce portal - and so is the TV channel. Interacting with the audience involves more than getting 'em to pay premium rates to vote for their favourite pop videos, y'know :)

Oh, I wasn't passing judgement on either the magazine or site. I can't remember the last time I looked at either of them. I was just pointing out that the channels are already there should they want to continue their relationship with their readers.