Hollywood trade publications unite in joint venture

(Bloomberg) – Hollywood’s longtime rivals in trade publications are uniting under one roof.
Penske Media Corp., which owns Variety and Rolling Stone, will run the Hollywood Reporter, Billboard and Vibe in a joint venture with their owner, MRC, Variety reported Wednesday.
As part of the deal, the terms of which were not disclosed, Penske and MRC will create an entity called PMRC through which Penske will manage the day-to-day operations of the entertainment and music brands. In another PMRC joint venture, MRC will use its production assets, including Dick Clark Productions, to develop new content based on PMRC stories and properties.
Variety and The Hollywood Reporter have battled to cover the entertainment industry for decades. Variety debuted in New York City in 1905 and launched a West Coast Daily Edition in 1933, which gained fame for titles like “Sticks Nix Hick Pix”. The Hollywood Reporter was founded in 1930. Both publications are now print weekly magazines and are widely distributed online.
Penske’s holdings that are not part of the new joint ventures include Deadline, WWD, She Media, Sportico and Robb Report. MRC, formerly known as Valence Media, bought the music data operations of Nielsen Holdings Plc last year and produced films such as “Knives Out”.
Outside of the PMRC businesses, Penske and MRC will operate separately, according to Variety.