Jason Scott
Scott Flanders, CEO of Playboy Enterprises, which produces the magazine Playboy, said to CNN that the company is considering selling the magazine. The deal could be worth $ 500 million. It is expected that the sale will be carried out through auction, organized with help of Moelis & Co bank. According to the management board, several customers have already expressed interest in buying the magazine. The deal will include the magazine itself, its website, mansion, licenses and entertainment projects. It is expected that customers will be able to license the brand for use in consumer goods, clothing, and so on. The founder of Playboy magazine Hugh Hefner owns now a third of the Playboy’s stocks. At the beginning of the year, the well-known mansion in Los Angeles owned by Playboy Enterprises was put up for sale for $ 200 million.
The magazine was founded in 1954 by Hugh Hefner. The cover of the magazine’s first issue featured a photograph of Marilyn Monroe, and the issue itself welcomed readers with Hugh Hefner’s appeal: "If you're a man between the ages of 18 and 80, Playboy is meant for you,” … “We enjoy mixing up cocktails and an hors d'oeuvre or two, putting a little ... acquaintance for a quiet discussion on Picasso, Nietzsche, jazz, sex ... "
According to the publisher’s data, the American edition of Playboy has long been not profitable and brings most of its profit to departments such as foreign editions of the magazine and licensing business. Last year's Media Division revenues, which also includes the magazine, was $ 38 million, while licensing revenue - $ 55 million. According to the service circulation audit, the magazine's circulation, which reached a peak in 1975 (. 5.6 million copies), fell to 800 thousand.
In October last year, Scott Flanders said that starting from the March issue of 2016, the magazine will stop publishing pictures of fully nude models. According to him, this is done not for ethical reasons, but because the Internet has already made such pictures obsolete. Yet, Playboy will continue to publish provocative photos of models and will keep ‘Playmate of the Month’ section, which still will be on the centerfold. Nevertheless, all new pictures will meet the requirements of the PG-13labeling, that is, will be allowed to view for children older than 13 years.
source: wsj.com
The magazine was founded in 1954 by Hugh Hefner. The cover of the magazine’s first issue featured a photograph of Marilyn Monroe, and the issue itself welcomed readers with Hugh Hefner’s appeal: "If you're a man between the ages of 18 and 80, Playboy is meant for you,” … “We enjoy mixing up cocktails and an hors d'oeuvre or two, putting a little ... acquaintance for a quiet discussion on Picasso, Nietzsche, jazz, sex ... "
According to the publisher’s data, the American edition of Playboy has long been not profitable and brings most of its profit to departments such as foreign editions of the magazine and licensing business. Last year's Media Division revenues, which also includes the magazine, was $ 38 million, while licensing revenue - $ 55 million. According to the service circulation audit, the magazine's circulation, which reached a peak in 1975 (. 5.6 million copies), fell to 800 thousand.
In October last year, Scott Flanders said that starting from the March issue of 2016, the magazine will stop publishing pictures of fully nude models. According to him, this is done not for ethical reasons, but because the Internet has already made such pictures obsolete. Yet, Playboy will continue to publish provocative photos of models and will keep ‘Playmate of the Month’ section, which still will be on the centerfold. Nevertheless, all new pictures will meet the requirements of the PG-13labeling, that is, will be allowed to view for children older than 13 years.
source: wsj.com