Variety, Hollywood Reporter Now Roommates
• Who would have thought we’d see the day when two major entertainment industry publications, rivals for nearly 90 years, would be owned by the same company? It’s true: Penske Media Corp. (PMC), which owns Variety, Rolling Stone and Music Business Worldwide, has forged a deal with MRC to operate Billboard, Vibe and Variety‘s longtime competitor, The Hollywood Reporter under a newly formed joint venture. That’s word directly from Variety, which says the combo of PMC and MRC will form a new established entity, dubbed PMRC. PMC will lead daily operations of an expanded entertainment and music brand portfolio under the PMRC banner that will bring two Hollywood trade institutions under the same roof for the first time.
A second joint venture calls for MRC to use its content production assets — which include dick clark productions — to develop new content and business opportunities drawn from stories and other intellectual property culled from across PMRC brands. The MRC banner is home to the Netflix drama Ozark and has produced such feature films as Knives Out, Baby Driver and Ted. dick clark productions is best known for producing the Golden Globe Awards and the American Music Awards. PMC and MRC will continue to operate independently outside of these joint ventures. PMC’s holdings outside of the PMRC venture include Deadline, WWD, She Media, Sportico and Robb Report.
The deal was announced early Wednesday by PMC Chief Executive Jay Penske and MRC co-CEOs Asif Satchu and Modi Wiczyk. “These are all brands I’ve long admired,” said Penske. “Billboard, The Hollywood Reporter, and Vibe have created some of the finest content in their respective industries and have contributed immensely to the heightened quality of journalism covering entertainment and music today. We feel very fortunate for this valuable partnership with the exceptional MRC team and the opportunity to continue the legacy of these tremendous brands for the next many decades.” Financial terms of the deal were not disclosed.
