The Countryman’s Weekly magazine has been acquired by Edinburgh-based Fieldsports Press, saving it from closure by previous owner Metropolis.
The title, which covers country sports such as shooting and hunting, has been merged with Fieldsports’ The Shooting Times and Country magazine.
Shooting Times has doubled pagination to 84 pages an issue to accommodate both outlets’ content.
Earlier this month Metropolis chief executive Robert Marr emailed staff to say its subsidiary Emap had “made the difficult decision to discontinue the publication” of The Countryman’s Weekly after it was “unable to secure a new publisher”.
However Fieldsports Publishing chief executive Simon K Barr has now told Press Gazette that the business had been in talks about acquiring The Countryman’s Weekly since autumn and that the deal closed on 26 January.
The first issue of The Shooting Times incorporating Countryman Weekly’s content was published on Wednesday 14 February.
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“Historically they’ve always been competitors, so it made sense that we acquired it,” Barr said.
Despite its name, The Countryman’s Weekly dropped to fortnightly in April 2023, meaning its integration into The Shooting Times has brought it back to weekly again.
Long-time Countryman’s Weekly editor Tracey Allen was offered a role at the new combined publication, Barr added, but opted to take voluntary redundancy instead. The other four staff attached to The Countryman’s Weekly were pooled across Emap titles and have remained with that publisher.
In a release, Fieldsports Publishing said The Countryman’s Weekly had “garnered a steadfast and loyal readership base and continues to offer unique content to a hard-to-reach audience”.
Barr said Shooting Times will benefit from “editorial from the much-loved Countryman’s Weekly contributors, which will offer readers exceptional value in a significantly larger weekly print publication…
“The addition of this cherished title is a testament to our commitment to further growth. We are dedicated to expanding our reach and influence, both online and offline, offering an unparalleled connection to our highly engaged audiences.”
Fieldsports Press acquired Shooting Times last year from Future, along with monthly title Sporting Gun and Youtube channel The Shooting Show. The company’s co-founder Selena Barr previously spent four years as a news editor for The Shooting Times.
Fieldsports also bought flyfishing magazine Trout & Salmon from Bauer Media Group in April and, in 2022, five more shooting magazine brands from Archant.
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