The Hollywood trade paper Variety has been acquired by Deadline owner Penske Media Corp. and its financial backer, hedge fund Third Point, for about $25 million.
The Los Angeles Times reports that while Variety competes online, its weekday daily edition and weekly magazine are no longer the must-reads in Hollywood that they once were.
Santa Monica-based Penske said it plans to expand Variety’s presence around the globe. The publication has covered Hollywood for more than 100 years and is still considered a top industry news source. But it has lost ground in the last six years to Deadline.com, Santa Monica-based Penske’s Hollywood news site.
The Wrap describes the deal as a digital age story of a blog buying Hollywood’s oldest trade paper in a bid to reverse the print publication’s declining fortunes.
