Playboy to Cut Rate Base By 38 Percent

Title's circ to be reduced to 1.5 million from 2.6 million.

By Chandra Johnson-Greene
Tuesday, October 20, 2009

Due to declines in circulation and advertising, Playboy Enterprises will slash the rate base of its print magazine by 38 percent—to 1.5 million from 2.6 million—effective with the January 2010 issue, as first reported by MediaWeek.com. Also, the January and February issues will be combined.

This decision is apparently a part of the “strategic repositioning” that recently-appointed CEO Scott Flanders said he was going to announce before the end of the year.

Flanders told FOLIO: earlier this month that the print edition of Playboy would survive the repositioning. “I am absolutely committed 100 percent to keeping Playboy in print,” he said. “The magazine is the cornerstone of what we do, it’s what the brand was built on.

“That doesn’t mean we won’t continue to expand in other segments of the business that might grow faster,” Flanders added, “but print isn’t going anywhere.”

When reached by AD for details on any additional changes for the title, a company spokesperson declined to comment.

Playboy fell short of its rate base promise during the first half of '09, delivering a total paid and verified circ. of 2,453,266, according to ABC’s most recent FAS-FAX report. The title saw an ad page decline of 30.2 percent compared to the same period last year, according to PIB.