Variety up for sale

You would think it would be hard to give up following the movers and shakers of Hollywood for, say, chronicling developments in biomedical research. Think again.

The owners of Variety today put the legendary trade paper on the auction block. Anglo-Dutch company Reed Elsevier said it plans to sell the division that publishes Variety and other periodicals. Instead, Reed will focus on faster growing and more lucrative publications and services catering to customers in the electronics, health, science and technology industries. Finding a buyer for Variety, founded in 1905, probably won't be very difficult but the new owners are going to have to deal with a business suffering from falling print advertising, industry observers tell Alana Semuels, who is working on a complete story.

-- Jesus Sanchez

Comments

[Hula Girl]

I used to write for Variety..

What does it say about the future of the movie business when advertising is shifting to technology industries and the Internet. If my kids, ages 19 and 23 are any indication, they have no interest in film, think the movies that cater to their demographic are "crap" and get their entertainment from film sites such as College Confidential and play video games (which movies are starting to resemble). They also download free entertainment such as South Park.

I'd sell Variety, too if I were the publisher.

Mebbe the L.A. Times can buy it. Your publisher is star struck and has turned it into the Paris Gazette at worst, and a tabloid at best.