Is It Curtains for The Hollywood Reporter? Variety Publisher Penske Media Group to Operate Rival THR, Billboard and Vibe in Joint Venture With MRC
The era of dueling Hollywood trade pubs is over. Variety reports that its parent company Penske Media Corp. has inked a deal with MRC to operate The Hollywood Reporter, Billboard and Vibe under a joint venture. The newly formed company will be called PMRC. The deal puts longtime rivals Variety and THR under the same roof for the first time ever, and also means that leading music pubs Billboard, Vibe and PMC's Rolling Stone will now be family. Dick Clark Productions and other assets will be spun off under a second joint venture, charged with developing new content from brands across the company. (So you know what that means: more awards shows.) Tongues are wagging as to the ultimate fate of THR. Will Jay Penske continue to run the two trade titles as separate, quasi-independent entities (á la the old "joint operating agreement" of daily newspapers, where business operations are merged while the newsrooms continue to compete with one another) or will he fold Variety'