Coldwater Creek assets acquired by Hong Kong-based company (chainstoreage.com)

The modern media landscape has not been kind to many industry magazines, and many are no longer around at least in print form including Surfer, Surfing, Transworld Skateboarding, Transworld Surf, and Powder. But the Surfer’s Journal has defied all those negative trends and currently has the most subscribers it has ever had. The business model started by owners Debbee and Steve Pezman 30-years ago has proven to be ahead of its time. An emphasis on editorial quality allows it to charge more for subscriptions and rely more on its readers for revenue while working with a small number of high quality sponsors that sign on for a long-term commitment.

There’s seismic news in the media, outdoor, endurance, and tech industries today. Pocket Outdoor Media (parent company to SNEWS, Backpacker, and nearly 30 other active living brands) announced news that will catapult the Boulder-based company into a powerful position in these industries: It has purchased Outside Magazine, Outside TV, Gaia GPS, Peloton Magazine, and athleteReg. Additionally, Pocket Outdoor Media is rebranding to Outside, effective today. “Adding these businesses to our portfolio and rebranding Pocket is a transformative moment for us,” says Robin Thurston, CEO of the all-new Outside. “Together with our other category-leading properties—SKI, Yoga Journal, Backpacker, Trail Runner, VeloNews, Climbing, Warren Miller Entertainment, Roll Massif, FinisherPix, SNEWS, and more—these brands make our new company the world’s leading creator of active living content, experiences, travel, and services. We now deliver content to almost every home in America across every platform, screen, and device.”

The following is a comment from Maria A. Pallante, President and CEO, Association of American Publishers: “We are extremely pleased that the district court has approved the proposed consent judgment. As we have stated before, it is an appropriately serious bookend to a decisive finding that so called “controlled digital lending” is nothing more than copyright infringement.”