One day after PMC’s acquisition of the venerable showbiz publication was formally announced, new owner Jay Penske visited Variety’s offices on Wilshire Blvd to talk about its future. The town hall started at 4:30 PM in front of about 80 staffers and took place on the building’s vacant 28th floor. Most of Penske’s presentation was about his company Penske Media Corp. He took no questions. According to those present, the gist of what Penske told the assembled group about Variety was that some things were going to stay the same and some things were going to change. His most important announcement was that Variety’s pay wall on the media outlet’s website will be coming down so that more than a small group of subscribers can consume its content. The PMC boss also said that Variety’s print publications are still going to come out for the foreseeable future. And he said he plans to invest more in Variety’s digital platform and expand its editorial reach. No more specifics were provided. The town hall ended around 5:10 PM. A Deadline reporter arriving to cover the Variety town hall wound up escorted from the building by security before it began.
Must Read Stories
Subscribe to Deadline Breaking News Alerts and keep your inbox happy.