Planet Out and LPI Marry... But Should We Be Throwing Rice or Asking For An Annulment

OK, I'm sure some of you have heard about this week's acquisition of LPI Media (publisher of The Advocate and Out, as well as my publishing company Alyson Books and all of Specialty Publiations' titles like Unzipped, Men, Freshmen and [2]) by Planet Out (of PlanetOut.com and Gay.com).

There seems to be some controversy surrounding this marriage, particularly in that many believe that this signifies a monopolization on the part of Planet Out to control gay media. The Advocate and Out already have a monopoly on magazine publishing, often snagging "exclusive" rights to major stories so that no other gay magazines can carry the same story until after theirs has run (I've lost out on several stories, in particular articles on Brokeback Mountain and a few gay singer-songwriters b/cuz the people involved were not allowed to speak to me until a certain date). Many see this as the arrogance of a company trying to run smaller magazines into the ground; some simply see it as them following the standard practices of journalistic "scooping." (Admittedly, every magazine wants to be the one who breaks the story and gets the exclusive. Can't really blame them there, but it still sucks for the rest of us.)

Anyway, I'm wondering what people think of this merger.

You can find out more about it here: http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/articl...&type=business

Well, here's my thoughts on the article....

Small point but -- Planet Out Inc. Holdings includes more than just the two sites listed.

And 2ndly I'll comment on this part:

"The only downside, Fetyko said, is the risk that PlanetOut will fail to integrate the combined companies as quickly as promised."

They might be able to do so but I think that they they will have major problems.

From what I've experienced they say they will do something or fix something but they have a hard time executing.

I suspect that like a lot of corporations they cut big corners by not having enough skilled employees and decission makers.

While they're out chasing the BIG deals they're forgetting the details and the people who promote them -- thereby losing easy money.

Quote:

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Originally Posted by robin

I suspect that like a lot of corporations they cut big corners by not having enough skilled employees and decission makers.

While they're out chasing the BIG deals they're forgetting the details and the people who promote them -- thereby losing easy money.

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Yeah, I guess it will be interesting to see how things turn out with the merger. If it's any harder for me to get my books published, I'll let you know! :)

As someone who worked at LPI for 2 years, I can say that I think they will probably do just fine with the merger. When I first started there, The Advocate had just bought Out and there was the same controversy about how LPI was monopolizing the gay media and going to ruin Out Magazine. I think things stayed pretty much the same with Out, and if anything they were able to add some talented staff and make improvements to it.

As for monopolizing the gay media, I disagree, there will always be room for other magazines on the market and as long as they are unique (and sexy) us queers will buy. I think Advocate and Out are rather 'gay mainstream' these days too, there are plenty of areas of specialization that other publishers could easily tap into.

Cheers,
D.

Quote:

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Originally Posted by dannyz

As for monopolizing the gay media, I disagree, there will always be room for other magazines on the market and as long as they are unique (and sexy) us queers will buy. I think Advocate and Out are rather 'gay mainstream' these days too, there are plenty of areas of specialization that other publishers could easily tap into.

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I get what you're saying. I just wish that the bigger mainstream mags didn't monopolize all the really good stories. The smaller and often better publications are left in the dust b/cuz they like to throw their weight around. I know it's just part of the business, but man, it sucks. ;)

For me, it kind of begs the question, did they buy for the print properties or the web properties?

Realistically, how long does the printed magazine format have left with the growth of online publishing? Sure there will always be holdouts who want the printed version, but doesn't it at some point become a losing proposition in print when the circulation numbers drop to a certain point?

I think this purchase may be about web properties, expanding the web ad reach for Planet Out.