MBI Publishing Company, SPEED Channel Launch Internet Bookstore Partnership
ST. PAUL, Minn.--May 24, 2005--MBI Publishing Company and SPEED Channel formally announced today the kickoff of a new Internet bookstore partnership, in which Motorbooks.com, MBI's automotive enthusiast-driven consumer site, provides product, merchandising, customer service and fulfillment for SPEED's online bookstore, Speedtvbooks.com.The site, which is part of Speedtv.com, went live May 9, 2005 and offers more than 2,600 MBI titles in seven gearhead-oriented categories, including cars, racing, motorcycles, repair & restoration, trucks, nostalgia and calendars. From entering the bookstore, through purchase and delivery, the Speedtvbooks.com customer has one seamless experience.
"SPEED Channel is the epitome of automotive enthusiast media, and we're excited to work with an organization that covers such a broad range of content that so closely matches our own," said Brian Wright, MBI's vice president of direct-to-enthusiast sales and marketing. "From hot rods and how-tos, to the wide spectrum of auto racing, this is a great fit for both companies."
"Over the past several months, SPEED Channel has aggressively searched for initiatives that both strengthen the network's brand and establish SPEEDTV.com as a one-stop shop for motor sports fans and automotive and motorcycle enthusiasts," said SPEED Channel spokesman Erik Arneson. "Allowing SPEED viewers to tap into the extensive MBI library through the network Web site is just another way we have found to fuel the passion of our audience. MBI's depth and breadth of topics matching SPEED Channel programming is a perfect match for that audience."
This agreement is part of MBI's new Web partnership program that provides companies with the products and interface to sell books on their e-commerce sites. "This opportunity provides other automotive enthusiast-related sites - both commerce- and content-driven - and their customers access to our incredibly wide selection of enthusiast products," Wright explained.
MBI has a similar Web bookstore relationship with magazine publisher Primedia Automotive Group, supplying approximately 90 percent of that company's online bookstore collection.
About SPEED Channel
SPEED Channel is the nation's first and foremost cable network dedicated to motor sports and the passion for everything automotive. From racing to restoration, motorcycles to movies, SPEED Channel delivers quality programming from the track to the garage. Now available in more than 68 million homes in North America, SPEED Channel is among the fastest growing sports cable networks in the country.
About MBI Publishing Company
MBI Publishing Company is the world's leading publisher of enthusiast titles, offering a wide array of books, calendars and videos on a wide variety of subjects, including cars, motorsports, motorcycles, tractors, railroads, boats, military history, aviation, rural life and Americana. The company publishes under three distinct imprints: Motorbooks, Zenith Press and MBI. It has two consumer Internet sites - Motorbooks.com, the premier Web bookstore for "gearhead" subject categories, offering more than 6,000 titles on automobiles, racing, motorcycles, trains, tractors, military aviation and more; and Zenithpress.com, which features more than 2,800 military history and aviation titles.