I wrote earlier that I had press inquiries into the various parties after the closure of Imaging-Resource. Founder David Etchells has written his story of the demise on PetaPixel.
However, today I (surprisingly) received a response from BeBop, the company that closed down Imaging-Resource: "The property will be going on sale later today and listed on our websites.” As I post this, the latter doesn’t seem to have happened.
In looking closer at BeBop, it’s clear that their stated business description (“performing arts,” which they say includes Jazz, Dance, and Theatre) doesn’t align with all of the Madavor properties they took over. They claim to be creating a consumer hub for the arts that is done via: (1) a television channel, (2) presentation of arts events, and (3) a marketplace for arts products and services. Their business model is advertising and ticket sales. Not much of this aligns with what Imaging-Resource was doing, thus the closure (and apparently, now a sale of the property).
As you might guess from the concise emailed response I got, I’ve asked for further clarification.
Update: all the photography assets (Outdoor Photographer, DigitalPhotoPro, DigitalPhoto, and Imaging-Resource) are being offered by BeBop for US$500,000, including all archives. That seems overpriced to me, as it is an “as-is” sale, doesn’t guarantee any contributors will carry on, and there are tangible not-yet-paid-for content costs involved.
While the archival content has some value, the primary value would be based on site traffic. IR was getting about the same monthly traffic as the bythom site, but with less engagement (fewer pages per visit, far less visit duration, etc.). Someone who knows site valuation would have a difficult time justifying the price, methinks. Either that, or I should sell my sites ;~).
Updated update: the Imaging-Resource Web site is back to being available, though there are no new articles or information on it after April 18th. I suspect that BeBop discovered that Web site valuation goes way down when it isn’t actually active.
