Penske Media Corporation (PMC ) is an American

mass media Mass media include the diverse arrays of media that reach a large audience via mass communication. Broadcast media transmit information electronically via media such as films, radio, recorded music, or television. Digital media comprises b ...

publishing Publishing is the activities of making information, literature, music, software, and other content, physical or digital, available to the public for sale or free of charge. Traditionally, the term publishing refers to the creation and distribu ...

, and information services company based in

Los Angeles Los Angeles, often referred to by its initials L.A., is the List of municipalities in California, most populous city in the U.S. state of California, and the commercial, Financial District, Los Angeles, financial, and Culture of Los Angeles, ...

and

New York City New York, often called New York City (NYC), is the most populous city in the United States, located at the southern tip of New York State on one of the world's largest natural harbors. The city comprises five boroughs, each coextensive w ...

. It publishes more than 20 digital and print brands, including '' Variety'', ''

Rolling Stone ''Rolling Stone'' is an American monthly magazine that focuses on music, politics, and popular culture. It was founded in San Francisco, California, in 1967 by Jann Wenner and the music critic Ralph J. Gleason. The magazine was first known fo ...

'', ''

Women's Wear Daily ''Women's Wear Daily'' (also known as ''WWD'') is a fashion-industry trade journal often referred to as the "Bible of fashion". Horyn, Cathy"Breaking Fashion News With a Provocative Edge" ''The New York Times''. (August 20, 1999). It provides i ...

'', ''

Deadline Hollywood ''Deadline Hollywood'', commonly known as ''Deadline'' and also referred to as ''Deadline.com'', is an online news site founded as the news blog ''Deadline Hollywood Daily'' by Nikki Finke in 2006. It is updated several times a day, with en ...

'', ''

Billboard A billboard (also called a hoarding in the UK and many other parts of the world) is a large outdoor advertising structure (a billing board), typically found in high-traffic areas such as alongside busy roads. Billboards present large advertis ...

'', ''

The Hollywood Reporter ''The Hollywood Reporter'' (''THR'') is an American digital and print magazine which focuses on the Cinema of the United States, Hollywood film industry, film, television, and entertainment industries. It was founded in 1930 as a daily trade pap ...

'', ''

Boy Genius Report Boy Genius Report (also referred to as BGR) is a technology-influenced website and covers topics ranging from consumer gadgets to entertainment, gaming, and science. Founded in October 2006 by anonymous web personality Boy Genius (also referred t ...

'', ''

Robb Report The ''Robb Report'' is an American, English-language, luxury- lifestyle magazine featuring products, including automobiles, aviation, boating, real estate and watches. Founded in 1976, it is currently owned by Penske Media Corporation. It also ...

'', ''

Artforum ''Artforum'' is an international monthly magazine specializing in contemporary art. The magazine is distinguished from other magazines by its unique 10½ × 10½ inch square format, with each cover often devoted to the work of an artist. Notably ...

'', ''ARTNews'', and others. PMC's Chairman and CEO since founding is Jay Penske. In addition to media publications, Penske Media Corporation owns the Life Is Beautiful Music & Art Festival and is a 50 percent stakeholder in

South by Southwest South by Southwest (SXSW) is an annual conglomeration of parallel film, interactive media, and music festivals and Convention (meeting), conferences organized jointly that take place in mid-March in Austin, Texas. It began in 1987 and has conti ...

. It is also the owner of

Dick Clark Productions Dick Clark Productions, LLC (DCP, stylized in lowercase as dick clark productions or dcp) is an American multinational television production company founded by radio and TV host Dick Clark. The studio primarily produces Awards ceremony, award sh ...

which includes the award shows

Golden Globe Awards The Golden Globe Awards are awards presented for excellence in both international film and television. It is an annual Awards ceremony, award ceremony held since 1944 to honor artists and professionals and their work. The ceremony is normally ...

American Music Awards The American Music Awards (AMAs) is an annual American music awards show produced by Dick Clark Productions since 1974. Nominees are selected on commercial performance such as sales and airplay. Winners are determined by a poll of the public and ...

Streamy Awards The YouTube Streamy Awards, also known as the Streamy Awards or Streamys, are an awards show presented annually by Dick Clark Productions and Tubefilter to recognize excellence in online video, including directing, acting, producing, and wr ...

Academy of Country Music Awards The Academy of Country Music Awards, also known as the ACM Awards, were first held in 1966, honoring the industry's accomplishments during the previous year. It was the first country music awards program held by a major organization. The academy ...

, and the

Billboard Music Awards The ''Billboard'' Music Awards are honors given out annually by '' Billboard'', a publication covering the music business and a music popularity chart. The ''Billboard'' Music Awards show has been held annually since 1990, with the exception of ...

History

2003–2011: Founding and early years of Penske Media

Penske Media Corporation was founded by Jay Penske in 2003. It began as an

affinity marketing Affinity marketing is a concept that consists of a partnership between a company (supplier) and an organization that gathers persons sharing the same interests to bring a greater consumer base to their service, product or opinion. This partnershi ...

and internet services company called Velocity Services, Inc. The company acquired the Mail.com domain and was renamed to the Mail.com Media Corporation (MMC). By 2008, the company owned digital entertainment properties like OnCars.com, ''

Hollywood Life Hollywood Life is an American digital media brand launched in 2009 by magazine editor Bonnie Fuller. The site covers celebrity, fashion, beauty, women issues, and entertainment news. It also airs award shows and other pop culture events. History ...

'', '' Movieline'', and MailTimes in addition to operating the Mail.com portal and email service. In mid-2008, the company received a $35 million growth equity round of financing from a leading

private equity Private equity (PE) is stock in a private company that does not offer stock to the general public; instead it is offered to specialized investment funds and limited partnerships that take an active role in the management and structuring of the co ...

fund. In early 2009, the company announced the purchase of ''Deadline Hollywood Daily'' (now known as Deadline.com). The website had previously been operated by publisher ''

LA Weekly ''LA Weekly'' is a free weekly alternative newspaper in Los Angeles, California. The paper covers music, arts, film, theater, culture, and other local news in the Los Angeles area. ''LA Weekly'' was founded in 1978 by Jay Levin (among others), ...

''. In February 2010, MMC finalized and announced a

joint venture A joint venture (JV) is a business entity created by two or more parties, generally characterized by shared ownership, shared returns and risks, and shared governance. Companies typically pursue joint ventures for one of four reasons: to acce ...

with

Zee TV ZEE TV also known as Z TV is an Indian Hindi language general entertainment pay television channel owned by Zee Entertainment Enterprises. It was launched on 1 October 1992 as the oldest privately owned television channel in India. History ...

for the creation of the new India.com web portal and seven other portals, to compete with other major web portals. In April 2010, MMC purchased Jonathan Geller's ''

'' (''BGR''), a tech and gadget blog, for an undisclosed amount of money. MMC moved the blog to a new URL (BGR.com) and also introduced a broader spectrum of technology coverage. Geller remained the website's

Editor in Chief An editor-in-chief (EIC), also known as lead editor or chief editor, is a publication's editorial leader who has final responsibility for its operations and policies. The editor-in-chief heads all departments of the organization and is held account ...

after the sale. In September 2010, the Mail.com email and portal service was sold to United Internet. MMC remained the primary content provider for Mail.com, but the email service itself was operated by United Internet and its GMX email platform.

2011–2016: ''Variety'', Fairchild, and other acquisitions

In 2012, MMC re-branded itself as Penske Media Corporation. In October 2012, PMC purchased Variety Inc., including the weekly '' Variety'' magazine, ''Daily Variety'', Variety.com, and all associated assets, for a reported $25 million from

Reed Elsevier RELX plc (pronounced "Rel-ex") is a British multinational information and analytics company headquartered in London, England. Its businesses provide scientific, technical and medical information and analytics; legal information and analytics; ...

. PMC received financial backing from

hedge fund A hedge fund is a Pooling (resource management), pooled investment fund that holds Market liquidity, liquid assets and that makes use of complex trader (finance), trading and risk management techniques to aim to improve investment performance and ...

Third Point LLC. Some of PMC's early changes to Variety's business plan included eliminating the website's

paywall A paywall is a method of restricting access to content (media), content, with a purchase or a subscription business model, paid subscription, especially news. Beginning in the mid-2010s, newspapers started implementing paywalls on their website ...

, ceasing the printing of ''Daily Variety'', and investing more in the digital platform, Variety.com. The paywall was taken down on March 1, 2013, and, after 80 years of publication, the last print edition of ''Daily Variety'' was issued on March 19, 2013. A redesigned ''Variety'' magazine launched on March 26, 2013. In late 2014, PMC purchased

Fairchild Fashion Media Fairchild Media is a publisher of digital media, journalism, photography and design, events and summits, video and studios, and fashion. Fairchild Media brands include ''Women’s Wear Daily'', ''Footwear News'' (FN), ''Beauty Inc'', ''M'' and '' ...

from

Condé Nast Condé Nast () is a global mass media company founded in 1909 by Condé Nast (businessman), Condé Montrose Nast (1873–1942) and owned by Advance Publications. Its headquarters are located at One World Trade Center in the FiDi, Financial Dis ...

for just under $100 million. Under the terms of the deal, PMC obtained ownership of Fairchild's print and digital media properties including ''

'' (''WWD''), '' Footwear News'', ''Beauty Inc.'', and others. Condé Nast had purchased the assets from Disney Corporation in 2003 for over $650 million. Two of Fairchild's properties, Style.com and ''W'', remained under Condé Nast's ownership. In June 2015, Penske Media Corporation formed a partnership with

Shutterstock Shutterstock, Inc. is an American provider of stock photography, stock footage, stock music, and editing tools; it is headquartered in New York. Founded in 2002 by programmer and photographer Jon Oringer, Shutterstock maintains a library of ar ...

to be the exclusive licensor of imagery from PMC's fashion and entertainment archives. The following month, PMC purchased Gold Derby, a data platform and website that utilizes user and professional predictions to predict the outcome and winners of global awards shows and events. In January 2016, PMC acquired independent film and television publication IndieWire from SnagFilms, Inc. for an undisclosed amount of money.

2017–present: ''Robb Report'', ''Rolling Stone'', MRC venture, and Vox

In January 2017, Penske Media Corporation entered into a joint venture for the ''

'' with Rockbridge, the private equity firm of Dan Gilbert. In December 2017, Penske Media acquired a majority stake of ''

'' magazine from Wenner Media. In 2018, it expanded further into music with an investment in BuzzAngle Music. Additional acquisitions from 2017 to 2018 include SHE Media, Sourcing Journal, and Art Media Holdings, which includes '' Art in America'' and ''

ARTnews ''ARTnews'' is an American art magazine, based in New York City. It covers visual arts from ancient to contemporary times. It is the oldest and most widely distributed art magazine in the world. ''ARTnews'' has a readership of 180,000 in 124 co ...

''. On September 23, 2020, it was announced that PMC would assume operations of the MRC Media & Info publications, including ''Variety'''s main competitor, ''

'', and ''

'' magazine, under a joint venture with MRC known as . In turn, MRC will form a second joint venture that will develop content tied to PMRC publications. In 2021, it purchased a 50 percent stake in

, and sold ''

'', website about entertainment, celebrity, and fashion news targets women ages 18 to 35 and attracts an audience of 35 million visitors per month, founded and run by former ''

US Weekly ''Us Weekly'' is an American weekly celebrity and entertainment magazine based in New York City. ''Us Weekly'' was founded in 1977 by The New York Times Company, which sold it in 1980. It was acquired by Wenner Media in 1986, and sold to Ameri ...

'', ''

Marie Claire ''Marie Claire'' (stylized in all lowercase; ) is a French international monthly magazine first published in France in 1937. Since then various editions are published in many countries and languages. The feature editions focus on women aro ...

'', and '' Glamour'' editor,

Bonnie Fuller Bonnie Fuller (born Bonnie Hurowitz; September 8, 1956) is a Canadian media executive who is the owner and editor-in-chief of '' Hollywood Life''. Fuller previously worked as editor-in-chief for publications including '' YM'', '' Cosmopolitan'', ' ...

. In 2022, the company acquired a majority stake in Las Vegas' Life Is Beautiful Music & Art Festival, which was placed under the ''Rolling Stone'' division. The same year, it acquired the contemporary art magazine ''

'' and ''

Bookforum ''Bookforum'' is an American book review magazine devoted to books and the discussion of literature. After announcing that it would cease publication in December 2022, it reported its relaunch under the direction of ''The Nation'' magazine six mo ...

''. ''Bookforum'' subsequently ceased publications on December 12 of that year. It also launched the LA3C, a music festival in Los Angeles, California. In January 2023, a stake in

was sold to PMC via the joint venture Penske Media Eldridge. The purchase also included the

, the

, and the

. In February 2023, PMC became the largest shareholder in

Vox Media Vox Media, Inc. is an American mass media company founded in Washington, D.C. with operational headquarters in Lower Manhattan, New York City. The company was established in November 2011 by CEO Jim Bankoff and Trei Brundrett to encompass ''S ...

, acquiring a 20% stake in the company with Jay Penske joining Vox's board.

Properties

''Variety''

PMC owns and operates ''Variety'' magazine, a trade paper for the entertainment industry founded in 1905, as well as its various digital and data platforms. PMC purchased the publication in 2012 from Reed Elsevier for approximately $30 million.

''Rolling Stone''

PMC first became the majority owner of ''Rolling Stone'' by purchasing a 51 percent stake in the company from Wenner Media in 2017, and then acquired the 49 percent stake held by BandLab Technologies in January 2019 to become its full owner. ''Rolling Stone'' is an international media brand which focuses on popular culture, now including magazines published in 15 countries such as China, Australia, India and the United Kingdom. The original American ''Rolling Stone'' magazine was founded in

San Francisco San Francisco, officially the City and County of San Francisco, is a commercial, Financial District, San Francisco, financial, and Culture of San Francisco, cultural center of Northern California. With a population of 827,526 residents as of ...

in 1967 by magazine publisher

Jann Wenner Jann Simon Wenner ( ; born January 7, 1946) is an American businessman who co-founded the popular culture magazine ''Rolling Stone'' with Ralph J. Gleason and is the former owner of '' Men's Journal'' magazine. He participated in the Free S ...

and the music critic Ralph J. Gleason. It was first known for its musical coverage and for political reporting by Hunter S. Thompson. In the 1990s, the magazine shifted focus to a younger readership interested in youth-oriented

television show A television show, TV program (), or simply a TV show, is the general reference to any content produced for viewing on a television set that is broadcast via over-the-air, satellite, and cable, or distributed digitally on streaming platf ...

s, film actors and popular AT40-based music. Under PMC, ''Rolling Stone'' became a monthly publication in America, but still mixed music coverage with politics and articles on popular culture.

''Robb Report''

The ''

'' is an American English-language luxury- lifestyle magazine featuring various products, including automobiles, aviation, boating, real estate, and watches.

''Deadline Hollywood''

'' Deadline'', also known as ''Deadline Hollywood'' or ''Deadline.com'' and previously known as news

blog A blog (a Clipping (morphology), truncation of "weblog") is an informational website consisting of discrete, often informal diary-style text entries also known as posts. Posts are typically displayed in Reverse chronology, reverse chronologic ...

''Deadline Hollywood Daily'', is an

online magazine An online magazine is a magazine published on the Internet, through bulletin board systems and other forms of public computer networks. One of the first magazines to convert from a print magazine format to an online only magazine was the comput ...

founded by Nikki Finke in 2006. The blog had initially been operated by publisher ''

'' prior to being purchased by Penske Media in June 2009.

Fairchild Fashion Media

Fairchild Fashion Media is a digital media, publishing, and events company that owns multiple fashion-related content properties. PMC purchased Fairchild properties from Condé Nast in late 2014. These publications included WWD (''Women's Wear Daily''), '' Footwear News'', ''Beauty Inc.'', ''M'', and Fairchild Summits. WWD is often considered the "Bible of the fashion industry." The other properties are considered leading

business-to-business Business-to-business (B2B or, in some countries, BtoB) refers to trade and commercial activity where a business sees other businesses as its customer base. This typically occurs when: * A business sources materials for its production process for ...

publications offering news and insights into various fashion and beauty niches.

''Sportico''

On April 2, 2020, PMC announced that it would launch ''Sportico''—a new vertical focusing on

sports business Sport is a physical activity or game, often competitive and organized, that maintains or improves physical ability and skills. Sport may provide enjoyment to participants and entertainment to spectators. The number of participants in a par ...

and

media Media may refer to: Communication * Means of communication, tools and channels used to deliver information or data ** Advertising media, various media, content, buying and placement for advertising ** Interactive media, media that is inter ...

. It launched on June 30, 2020, hiring several reporters who previously worked at the sports business division of

Bloomberg News Bloomberg News (originally Bloomberg Business News) is an international news agency headquartered in New York City and a division of Bloomberg L.P. Content produced by Bloomberg News is disseminated through Bloomberg Terminals, Bloomberg T ...

. On December 14, 2020, ''Sportico'' acquired ''The Intercollegiate'', adding two writers from the college sports media outlet, to grow its coverage of the college sports industry. ''Sportico'' and

agreed to a content sharing deal in January 2021 to provide Sportico content to Bloomberg readers.

Bollywood Life

BollywoodLife.com is an entertainment and celebrity news website reporting on Indian popular culture. It is part of Penske Media Corporation, having reportedly attained more than 20 million monthly active users, as well as over 5 million social media followers.

Other properties

Other properties under the PMC banner include the Boy Genius Report (or BGR.com), TVLine, SHE Media, Sourcing Journal, and Gold Derby. BGR.com is a tech and gadget blog originally founded by Jonathan Geller and purchased by PMC in 2010. Gold Derby was founded in 2000 as an entertainment news forum, and was acquired by PMC in 2015 after the site pivoted to awards predictions. Gold Derby has awarded the Gold Derby TV and Film Awards since 2002. PMC has also been an investor in the strategic event management company LDJ Productions since 2020. Penske Media co-owns its headquarters at 475 Fifth Avenue after partnering with RFR Holding to purchase it in 2022.

References

External links

* {{Penske Media Corporation Magazine publishing companies of the United States Companies based in Los Angeles American companies established in 2004 Privately held companies based in California