To AV Mag Or Not To AV Mag

Changes are a foot for AV magazine ^[1] as Haymarket Publishing has just recently sold the title to Metropolis International Group and the publication is not only going back to Croydon, the city where it started in 1974, but it will even be in the exact same building!

What will become of the magazine, that for over 30 years managed to be a thought-leader in the AV industry, is anyone’s guess?

AV magazine has changed considerably in the past two years since its long standing Chief Editor Peter Lloyd decided to retire. Lloyd has been, and on a freelance basis still is ^[2], the soul of the publication and the ‘thinking glue’ of much of the AV industry. The analysis and research he carries out, are often unique to AV magazine.

AV’s competing titles, InAVate ^[3] and Installation Europe ^[4] are still going strong.

In 2009 Haymarket decided to tighten its belt and it reduced the number of issues of AV from 16 a year, which included AV magazine and AV Europe, to publishing only six issues a year making AV Europe an insert in the magazine. At that time, Assistant Editor Geny Caloisi, who took care of the major features in the magazine, also left the publication.

Bhavna Mistry has been the part time Editor of AV for over a year. Coming from the promotion and incentives industry, we don’t think she ever took to AV too much. Her voice was quite silent within the magazine and her presence amiss in the industry. A couple of weeks before AV magazine was sold to Metropolis, she and her junior reporter resigned from the title.

The only ‘little Indian’ left at AV now is Paul Milligan. He started at almost the same time as Caloisi in 2005. Lately he’s been heading some round tables and his writing presence in the magazine is apparent BUT does he have the vision to make AV grow back into its former glory? Could he drive the publication into becoming once again the leader in reporting and analysis?

Metropolis MD is Kevin Crook, who already knows the industry and the title, having previously been AV’s publisher when the magazine was owned by Quantum. Let’s hope that the publication simply doesn’t become just a products catalogue.