Motorcycle Print Magazine Finds New Life On Streaming Platform
The Pittsburgh, PA based Source Media Group has announced that after 27 years of print magazine publication, the Cycle Source Magazine, Track Side Report and Torque Performance publishers have launched a new channel - adding Grease & Gears TV.
Cycle Source Magazine publisher and Source Media Group President Chris Callen told AMD that his three-year project to bring motorcycle media back to televisions and beyond "has started to pick up speed. After the initial soft launch during the 2023 Sturgis Motorcycle Rally, Grease & Gears is growing strong.
"Due to the enormous support from Dennis Kirk, Grease & Gears is now available on Apple and Android devices, Roku and Firestick. So, no matter where you are or what screen you want to watch it on, 24/7 motorcycle entertainment is at your fingertips."
Asked what exactly Grease & Gears is, Chris said simply that "it's kinda like Netflix for motorcycle riders.
"It's a collection of stories from the road, inside the garage, and collected over our travels. The great events we go to and the incredible bikes we see, all with a deeply personal connection since it is no longer a media interpretation of what someone said, but their voice brought to life through video and contained in a place where it will live on forever."
The channel is, as Callen went on to say, "nothing different than the work we have done for three decades. Subscribers pay us to deliver stories on motorcycles, the people who build them, and the places they go on them. Same thing here. We just have another dimension with the video component."
While this is nothing new in social media, as many YouTube sites now focus on motorcycle media, the difference, Callen says, is that Grease & Gears exists "outside of the algorithm. Nothing slows the roll for people who want to see great motorcycle media, not even commercials, since they do not exist on Grease & Gears TV."
Callen explained that collaborators are a big part of what makes it run. With nearly a dozen content creators, some of your favorite personalities - like Professional Monkey, Jason Sims, and even Michael Lichter - all have a home on Grease & Gears where their content can be accessed. "With hundreds of hours of programming already up and running, you can expect the regular delivery of fresh new content from the whole team."
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| Source Media Group President Chris Callen |
In addition to great motorcycle entertainment, and depending on your subscription level, there are giveaways, exclusive content, monthly drawings for prizes, and even talks of "Subscriber Only" events at rallies like Sturgis and Daytona.
Callen says that Source Media has always been strict about its value-added approach to its print magazine over the years, and he indicated that this will have the same values. "I always think about the person that sets down their five or ten bucks for a magazine. That's hard-earned money, and if they give it to me to show them part of the world that I get to see, I'm gonna make sure they get more than their money's worth."
Cycle Source Magazine will continue to be published digitally and in print, as this new chapter for Source Media is about finding new life in new media channels.
"While citizen journalism has done a very good job in the last ten years to promote the motorcycle business, there is something about the tried-and-true methods of journalists who have made telling these stories, asking questions, and making sure regular people are counted that is still priceless - an honest approach that will provide longevity to our culture.