Amongst the first moves in UK magazine publisher Future’s new effort to turn around its U.S. business, the company is launching its TechRadar portal in America.
Future says it is recruiting a team based in San Francisco, where it would take on competitors like CNet and Engadget. Launch is planned for this spring. The core site claims 1.6 million monthly uniques (comScore).
Publisher Nick Merritt (via release): “TechRadar has been the leading technology reviews site in the U.K. for the past several years, and bringing it fully to the U.S. has always been our ambition.
“It’s great to finally be in a position to do it. We’ll be building on our strengths with the most authoritative reviews of U.S. cell phones, tablets, hardware and software, and provide up-to-the-minute news, and valuable content catered specifically for the U.S. tech-buying audience.”
Future’s U.S. business is troubled. 2010/11 print circulation there fell by a third, faster than in the UK, causing a profit fall.
Last July, the group announced it would accelerate making Future U.S. in to a primarily-digital business. By September, with the market worsening, the board said it was “now considering a wider range of strategic options in respect of its U.S. operations”. It ended up replacing CEO Stevie Spring with UK CEO Mark Wood (pictured), who aims to merge the UK and U.S. businesses.
Future in Wood’s image is about tablet magazines, print titles that are increasingly becoming magbooks and beefing up the group’s web portals like TechRadar, BikeRadar and GamesRadar, which were originally formed to unite the several print titles Future operates in its key verticals of tech, biking and video games.
TechRadar also this week launched a daily deals site for gadget buyers.