There has been a change to regularly scheduled program, but riders aren't quite sure what it will be or if the change will be noticeable at all.

The motorcycle world is absorbing the news of a popular magazine changing hands from one publishing house to another.

Hearst Corp announced late last week the sale of Cycle World magazine to Bonnier Corp., a consumer publishing group that also publishes Popular Science, Parenting, and Field & Stream magazines.

The magazine, which was founded in 1962, is based in Newport Beach, California and publishes monthly with a circulation of 235,000, making the title the lowest distributed in the Hearst Corp Group.

According to both companies involved in the sale, Cycle World’s current staff will remain including Mark Hoyer, who has worked for Cycle World since 1999 and who leads the editorial team as vice president of brand content and editor-in-chief.

Hearst and Bonnier declined to disclose financial terms. The Bonnier Corporation is the United States division of the Swedish media company the Bonnier Group.

Bonnier, which formed in 2007, has grown its portfolio to more than 50 media brands, mainly through acquisitions. Bonnier launched Popular Science's app on the iPad in April 2010.

Coincidentally, Cycle World's app launched one year earlier.

Terry Snow, the chief executive of Bonnier, said the magazine would join other specialized titles owned by Bonnier, including Popular Science, Field & Stream and Parenting.

“Our company excels at serving passionate special-interest audiences, so Cycle World is a solid strategic fit,” Mr. Snow said in a statement.

Bonnier Vice President and Group Publisher Eric Zinczenko, who heads up the company's Outdoor Group, will direct the Cycle World operations.

“Adding another leading men’s vertical to our portfolio of enthusiast brands presents larger opportunities for our strategic partners as we share many of the same advertisers,” Zinczenko said.

“With its very loyal audience of motorcycle enthusiasts, Cycle World will be a great addition to Bonnier’s portfolio of special-interest magazines,” David Carey, president of Hearst Magazines, said in a statement. “We are pleased to be working with Terry and his team on this transaction.”

The news was greeted by cautious optimism by the online motorcycle press. Business experts say the magazine industry has life in it yet. More titles have launched so far this year than last, and fewer have folded, according to online database MediaFinder.com, which will release its 9-months survey on Monday.

“This acquisition reinforces Bonnier’s pursuit of aggregating the largest men’s audience in media, and most important, the unwavering commitment to producing the highest quality content possible,” Bonnier Vice President and Group Publisher Eric Zinczenko noted.