American Astronomical Society to Acquire Sky & Telescope

[Ron Schmit]

The American Astronomical Society (AAS) has agreed to acquire Sky & Telescope (S&T) magazine and its related business assets, including the skyandtelescope.com website, SkyWatch annual, digital editions, astronomy-themed tours, and S&T-branded books, sky atlases, globes, apps, and other stargazing products.

S&T's current owner, the magazine- and book-publishing company F+W Media, sought Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection in March 2019 after what court filings described as six years of poor strategy and management at the corporate level. The AAS, the major organization of professional astronomers in North America and a 501(c)(3) nonprofit corporation, was the winning bidder for S&T in a bankruptcy auction process that concluded on Monday, 17 June, pending approval by all parties to the transaction, final documentation, filing of final sales agreements and schedules with the bankruptcy court, and a successful closing process.

The AAS anticipates that S&T's staff of editors, designers, illustrators, and advertising sales representatives will become AAS employees but will continue to work out of the magazine's offices in Cambridge, Massachusetts. The AAS is headquartered in Washington, DC, but already has about a dozen remote staff members scattered from coast to coast. As it accomplishes the operational transitions needed to publish S&T, the Society anticipates making few if any changes to the editorial content or the way the magazine operates, and subscribers should see no interruption in its monthly delivery schedule. Enhancements and new products and services are likely in the future; these will be developed in partnership with the magazine's editors and readers and with the Society's members and other stakeholders.

"The synergies between our two organizations are many and strong," says Peter Tyson, Editor in Chief of Sky & Telescope. "Many AAS members grew up on S&T, and we regularly report on the discoveries made by AAS members."

[Deane Clark]

Sounds like good news! I hope it doesn’t turn into a money sink for AAS.

[setnes]

Buyer beware!

It appears that the new owners have switched subscription practices. They will now automatically renew new subscribers at the current subscription rate. This rate is generally much higher than the deals you can find through magazine brokers. It does not appear like you can opt-out of this practice.

I will not be renewing my subscription to Sky & Telescope unless I can find a way around this subscription slamming practice. I will miss Bob's articles dearly.

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[clayton]

Discountmagazines.com is currently offering renewals at 23.96 for 1 year with coupon Offer MPS20 applied.

Did not confirm that it works but I may as their agreement may reset and end at some point.

If it does work auto renew may still be an issue but without your credit card what can they do? Bill you?

[setnes]

That's what I tried first, but noticed fine print before the transaction was complete. You can use PayPal with a credit card, but not your PayPal balance. The credit card was required. The fine print stated funds would automatically be withdrawn from PayPal if the credit card was no longer active. This is like being in the BMG music club. Automatically billed at an unknown rate is not something I can accept.

Perhaps the "gift subscription" is the way around this.

[SEmert]

On behalf of the MAS as the Membership Coordinator, I have sent two emails to S&T Subscription Services inquiring as to whether we can still submit new subscriptions and subscription renewals at the astronomy club discount price of $32.95, and where and how they should be sent if indeed we are still able to do this. (I've gotten the automated acknowledgement of my inquiry, but no actual response to the email yet... but the first inquiry was only yesterday so there is some hope yet.)

Until I get a response, I would recommend that no one try renewing through the Society at this time. (Robert, I am holding yours for a bit until we get clarification.) I'll reply to this forum thread and will also have the web site updated when I get further information from them.

[Ron Schmit]

I noticed that the Shop at Sky store is still closed. It is the source of my "annual manual" purchases: RASC Observer's Handbook, the Sky Almanac wall chart, and Skywatch. I sure hope they come back soon.

[SEmert]

Well, some good news at least. We got a response from S&T Customer Service telling us they are still supporting S&T subscriptions at astronomy club discount price of $32.95 per year. They say you can either submit the subscription/renewal through the Society, or even directly to them while indicating you are a member of the MAS.

[Deane Clark]

I noticed that the Shop at Sky store is still closed. It is the source of my "annual manual" purchases: RASC Observer's Handbook, the Sky Almanac wall chart, and Skywatch. I sure hope they come back soon.

I just checked this again and it’s nothing but a 404 error. They couldn’t even bother to put up a “coming soon” or “sorry we’re closed” page.

[clayton]

The Astronomical League Book Store has RASC Observers Handbook 2020 USA 24.00
The Sky Alamanac wall chart and the Skywatch being generated by S&T hopefully will be published.

I get this at https://www.shopatsky.com

In early July, the American Astronomical Society purchased Sky & Telescope magazine and its associated businesses, including the Shopatsky.com web store. The store website is temporarily down as we undertake the transition from F+W operation to operation by the American Astronomical Society. The store will return soon. All orders currently in process will be fulfilled. We will follow up with all customers to ensure their satisfaction after the store is up and functioning.

B2B customers can contact us directly for help fulfilling orders in the interim by sending an email to skytelinvoices@aas.org.

Thank you for your understanding as we make this transition as quickly as possible.

Kevin Marvel, CEO

CEO AAS Sky Publishing, LLC

[Deane Clark]

So it’s just the link from the main skyandtelescope.com site that leads nowhere. That’s a relief I guess.

[SEmert]

So, I wonder if the purchase of S&T is the AAS' first commercial/retail venture? Perhaps they are just working through the issues getting the web sites transitioned over. Even their response to my inquiry about club discount subscriptions was relatively terse and didn't offer any additional info.
Hopefully they get everything sorted out soon.