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Jimmy Jellinek in 2010. (Chicago Magazine)
Playboy Enterprises on Wednesday sought to downplay speculation that its headquarters were headed for the West Coast, despite the fact that its editorial director is moving there.
Jimmy Jellinek, editorial director and chief content officer, posted on Facebook this morning that he was moving to Los Angeles in August. Shortly thereafter, the post was taken down, according to Time out Chicago. Get the full story »
A commuter reads a Kindle while riding the subway in Cambridge, Mass. (Reuters/Brian Snyder)
Amazon announced its new “Kindle with Special Offers“ on Monday which will sell for $114, which is $25 less than its ad-free counterpart, Amazon’s $139 Kindle Wi-Fi. The Kindle 3G is available for $189. It will begin shipping May 3.
The Kindle’s “special offers” and ads will appear on the e-reader’s screensaver and at the bottom of its home screen. Amazon plans to mix together advertisements from launch sponsors including Buick, Olay and Visa with daily-deal style discount coupons. Get the full story »
Media veterans Steven Brill and Gordon Crovitz sold their company Journalism Online that helps publishers charge for content to printing services firm R.R. Donnelley & Sons Co. R.R. Donnelley did not disclose terms of the acquisition Thursday. Get the full story »
Dr. Howard Bauchner
A noted Boston professor of pediatrics and public health will be the next editor-in-chief of the Journal of the American Medical Association, one of the nation’s best known medical journals.
Dr. Howard Bauchner will become JAMA’s top editor July 1, replacing Dr. Catherine DeAngelis, who had announced plans to leave the job after 11 years and return to Johns Hopkins School of Medicine in Baltimore, JAMA’s publisher, the Chicago-based American Medical Association said Thursday morning.
Bauchner, a professor at the Boston University School of Medicine, becomes the 16th editor in JAMA’s 127-year history. The journal is well known to consumers and medical professionals, given that its studies often make headlines, be they articles touting medical breakthroughs or editorials criticizing the health-care system. Get the full story »
Corporate expansion last year “from Groupon to U.S. Steel” has landed Chicago as the top metro area for corporate investment by Site Selection magazine, World Business Chicago said today. Get the full story »
Sports Illustrated said Friday that it’s offering new digital subscription plans, including one that bundles the printed magazine with versions that are available online, on Android smart phones and tablets, as well as forthcoming devices.
Time Inc., the owner of the magazine and the publishing arm of Time Warner Inc. , has yet to reach an agreement with Apple Inc., maker of the iPad tablet and iPhone, to sell the subscriptions on iTunes, but its new offerings are part of a broader effort to create a subscription platform that allows customers to sign up once and access publications in any medium, including print. Get the full story »
Magic Johnson, who last year passed on a deal to buy Ebony and Jet magazines, will become chairman of Vibe Holdings, the owner of the magazines Vibe and Uptown and the Soul Train TV show. Get the full story »
The Huffington Post this morning. (Reuters)
AOL Inc. will buy Arianna Huffington’s influential website for $315 million, looking to the high-profile liberal pundit to rescue it from the dustbin of Internet history.
The move comes at a hefty premium. AOL is estimated to pay 32 times earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation and amortization for the Huffington Post, said Benchmark Co analyst Clayton Moran.
Similar content deals, such as Hellman & Friedman’s acquisition of Internet Brands in September 2010, typically go for eight to 12 times earnings, said Moran. Get the full story »
Forbes | Playboy is coming to the iPad in the all-together starting in March, according to a tweet from Hugh Hefner.
A couple from the Brooklyn borough of New York part of the Playboy network adult reality program "Brooklyn Kinda Love." (AP/Playboy TV)
For generations, Playboy’s image has been “Entertainment for Men.” Now, it’s TV network wants these men to watch their movies and shows with their wives and women friends.
The premium cable network, which celebrates its 30th anniversary next year, is starting “TV for 2,” slightly steamy programming designed for women and men to experience together. The idea was unwrapped over the weekend with the premiere of “Brooklyn Kinda Love,” a reality series made by the producers of HBO’s “Taxicab Confessions.” Get the full story »
Playboy will be taken private under an agreement with Icon Acquisition Holdings, a limited partnership controlled by founder Hugh Hefner, left. (LATimes)
By Robert Channick | More than 57 years after launching Playboy from his South Side apartment, Hugh Hefner is buying back the bunny.
After six months of deliberation, an improved offer to take Playboy Enterprises private at $6.15 a share passed muster with the board, which voted Sunday to return the magazine empire to its 84-year-old founder.
Shares of Playboy spiked nearly 18 percent on Monday. Get the full story »
From The Hollywood Reporter | Playboy Enterprises will take a $13 million charge on its fourth-quarter earnings after having ended its legal dispute with DirecTV, the company said in a filing Thursday.
Google Inc. and Apple Inc. have stepped up their battle to win over publishers, as the two companies vie to become the dominant distributor of newspapers and magazines for tablet computers and other mobile devices.
Google is trying to drum up publishers’ support for a new Google-operated digital newsstand for users of devices that run its Android software. With the effort, it is chasing Apple, which already sells digital versions of many major magazines and newspapers through its iTunes store. Get the full story »
The Web may seem like the land of something for nothing. Free video. Free news. Even free tools such as word processing and spreadsheets.
But almost two-thirds of adult Internet users in the U.S. have paid for access to at least one of these intangible items online, according to a new survey from the Pew Internet and American Life Project. Get the full story »
