• by Sara Guaglione , April 10, 2018

The Enthusiast Network, the publisher of automotive enthusiast brands like Motor Trend, Roadkill and Automobile, has been rebranded as Motor Trend Group.

This is one of the first big moves since Discovery Communications and The Enthusiast Network formed a joint venture last August, combining The Enthusiast Network's automotive enthusiast video content with Velocity, Discovery’s cable network targeting auto enthusiasts.

Michael Lang, CEO of Motor Trend Group and president of digital at Discovery Networks International & Eurosport Digital, stated: “This rebrand of our JV into one, over-arching single brand, Motor Trend, continues Discovery’s long-term digital ambition; underscores our commitment to serve passionate global auto-related super fans with the world-class content they crave; and provides OEMs, buyers and advertisers with an unparalleled one-stop, 360-degree branded environment to reach this coveted audience segment across all screens and platforms." 

Motor Trend Group will now offer advertisers the ability to buy multiple verticals together, across digital, social media, linear TV, live events and branded content. 

This offering will give advertisers the opportunity "to carry a unified message reaching potential car buyers and an affluent male audience,” stated Jon Steinlauf, chief U.S. advertising sales officer for Discovery.

Motor Trend Group will also house The Enthusiast Network's popular YouTube Channel and app, which is an auto-dedicated subscription video-on-demand service.

Velocity, which Discovery claims is in 73 million homes, will be rebranded as Motor Trend Network this fall.

The Motor Trend OnDemand digital product will continue to be available to consumers on mobile and connected devices as the Motor Trend App, available online at MotorTrend.com.