Playboy might kill the magazine to focus on lifestyle brand
 

https://www.wsj.com/articles/playboy...boy-1514808003

Playboy considers closing down magazine | Daily Mail Online

Playboy is considering closing down its print magazine within the next year
Ben Kohn, a managing partner at Rizvi Traverse, Playboy's controlling shareholder, said the company wants to focus on the 'World of Playboy'
Instead of the magazine, the company wants to concentrate on building revenue through partnerships with nightclubs and casinos in areas like Las Vegas
By Valerie Edwards For Dailymail.com

Playboy may close down its print magazine in favor of forming profitable partnerships with nightclubs and casinos just months after founder Hugh Hefner's death.

'We want to focus on what we call the "World of Playboy," Ben Kohn, a managing partner at private-equity firm Rizvi Traverse, Playboy's controlling shareholder, told the Wall Street Journal.

Kohn went on to say that Playboy is 'so much larger than a small, legacy print publication'.

Hefner launched Playboy Magazine in 1953, and built one of the world's most recognizable brands.

Just two days after Hefner died in September, talks of the magazine closing began.

At the time it was reported that Rizvi Traverse owns a controlling share of the empire and only promised to publish the magazine while Hefner was still alive.


Rizvi Traverse, which invested $207 million in Playboy Enterprises in 2011, has one year to buy Hefner's 35 per cent stake in the company.

'Hef's contract with Rizvi stated that they were required to publish the magazine, and he got to be editor as long as he lived,' a former staffer told the New York Post at the time.

'So while he might not have been highly involved in the day-to-day, just him being alive served as a shield,' the source added. 'And those of us working there always assumed that they would shut the magazine down the second he passed away.'

Rizvi Traverse plans to 'spend 2018 transitioning it from a media business to a brand-management company' +5
Rizvi Traverse plans to 'spend 2018 transitioning it from a media business to a brand-management company'

And now, it seems that Rizvi Traverse is doing just that.

'We plan to spend 2018 transitioning it from a media business to a brand-management company,' Kohn told the Journal.

'I'm not sure that print is necessarily the best way to communicate to our consumer going forward,' Kohn added.

The shareholder is looking to gain the 35 per cent stake that Hefner left in trust to his heirs, a source told the Journal.

Beginning in 2011, Rizvi Traverse has focused on licensing deals, placing its name on nightclubs in India and casinos in London.

Kohn said more focus will now be on equity partnerships, including moving parties from the Playboy mansion to Las Vegas nightclubs, where they generate income instead of being magazine marketing expenses, according to the Journal's report.

According to Kohn, revenue is expected to grow by 20 per cent in 2018, despite the possible magazine closure.

Good idea shows that print doesnt sell anymore whos investing in Playboy coin? :1orglaugh

This is long over due. Playboy hasn't been making money from the magazine in a long time. Playboy makes it's money from it's branding - anything with the Playboy logo on it. This too will fade as the Playboy name fades from view.

Playboy was on the top of the world in the 1980s and 1990s, selling softcore porn that was acceptable to the mainstream. Now.... That's gone.

I'm gonna have to rub out one last one in honor of the mag.

I remember those days. Back when Pamela was hot.