XXL Magazine to end print edition after 17 years

Hip Hop magazine XXL will end production of physical issues and become an online-only publication after a 17-year run following its upcoming October/November issue.
The change comes as the six-issue-a-year magazine was sold to radio giant Townsquare Media, the New York Post reported Monday.
"We incubated something digitally, but the Townsquare people can take it to the next level with their digital expertise," said Ben Harris, president of Harris Publications, XXL's publisher since its inception in 1997.
Bill Wilson, the chief content officer of Townsquare, said that 11 members of the editorial and digital sales team at XXL would be getting job offers to stay with the publication under its new publisher.
While the details of the sale remain unknown, Townsquare reportedly raised about $100 million in an initial public offering on July 23. The media company gets most of its revenue from its "331 radio stations in 66 small to mid-sized markets" as well as its growing online presence.
The Greenwich, Conn., company has been increasing its digital titles since the summer having purchased the young-man publication Antenna Magazine in July and King-mag.com later on. According to data tracker comScore, the Townsquare network is ranked at no. 50 in terms of online traffic with a reported 49.4 million unique monthly visitors in August.
"We think XXL has strong potential in both the digital and live events market," said Wilson, adding that the magazine could possibly make special print appearances sporadically.
News of XXL's purchase and move into a more exclusive web-based presence comes weeks after SpinMedia said it was ending XXL rival Vibe's print edition presumably over its male customers' preference for an online medium.