Penthouse magazine to end print publication, focus on its digital offerings

[bananas]

Source: Houston Chronicle

After 50 years Penthouse magazine is ending its print publication, opting to focus on its web and mobile products.

The move comes just months after its primary print competitor, Playboy, decided to halt nudity in its print product to compete with other mainstream publications.

As Playboy reasoned at the time, female nudity can be found on the Internet for free.

Penthouse’s publisher told the Wall Street Journal that this is the way of the future, in not so many words.

<snip>

Read more: http://www.chron.com/national/article/Penthouse-magazine-to-end-print-publication-6766505.php

[maxsolomon]

1. Mixed emotions

I like naked ladies; OTOH, I don't care about Penthouse being in print. It's Omni I miss!

[Frank Cannon]

11. I, too, loved OMNI. As I recall, it died with Bob Guccione's wife.

Kathy Keeton was the heart, soul, and brains of that magazine. She was always able to hire top-notch writers and artists, because her husband pretty much wrote her a blank check. When she became ill with cancer, the magazine took a huge drop in quality--running a lot of articles about UFOs, pyramid power, homeopathy, and the like. Finally, she died, and it stopped publishing entirely.

There's a new group that's acquired the OMNI brand, and they've started a website to resurrect OMNI in an online format, but it in no way can compete with that great magazine of yesterday.

[Arkana]

2. But where will I go

to get my dose of stories about people having threesomes in airplane bathrooms now?

[Orrex]

3. You could check out the Creative Speculation group

[Blue_Tires]

17. The lounge?

In fact, maybe you'll meet somebody in the lounge who will help you write some NEW stories!

[Orrex]

4. This will be a shock to everyone who thought it went out of print 20 years ago

And holy shit! They still print Playboy? Who knew?!?

[maxsolomon]

5. Any man who gets a haircut?

Playboy is pretty standard reading material in barbershop waiting areas.

[Orrex]

8. News to me.

I haven't been inside a barber shop in a quarter century, and that particular one didn't have Playboy, but maybe it wasn't a representative sample.

[mac56]

6. "Dear Penthouse: I never thought this would happen to me...."

[anigbrowl]

13. I've never written to Penthouse...

but I always thought it would happen to me. Sometimes you get to be happy and right at the same time!

[NaturalHigh]

7. I don't really care about Penthouse...

but the thought that printed books and newspapers might eventually be phased out makes me sad. I'll admit, though, that I'm part of the problem; I mostly read newspapers online and buy books on Kindle.

[olddots]

9. We still have the Wall Street Journal

for all those wankers .........

[Kennah]

10. Not sure what will replace it. I guess someone will eventually put up an Internet porn site. n/t

[tabasco]

14. Oh heeehaw!!!

Your dry humor made me LOL.

[Kennah]

15. Many thanks. If I can make one person smile a day, I've accomplished something. n/t

[Midnight Writer]

16. I know you won't believe this, but I actually liked Penthouse and Playboy for the articles

The nekkid pictures were kind of an embarrassment disincentive to buying the magazines.

The thing is, Playboy and Penthouse paid the highest dollar amount to writers; of fiction, of investigative journalism, of interviews, of reviews of music and literature. And because they paid top dollar, they got some of the best stuff and attracted some of the best talent. And as a bonus, they were willing to publish the "counter cultural" writers that mainstream mags wouldn't touch with a ten foot pole.

Give this a thought: With the demise of these magazines, who will publish and nurture fledgling talent such as Robert Anton Wilson, Stephen King, John Updike, Anthony Burgess, Alan Ginsburg, Bukowski, Brattigan, Heller, Barth, Thomas Berger, or any of the other writers who "didn't fit the mold"? Reader's F-ing Digest? Who will interview folk like Abbie Hoffman, Louis Farrakhan, Wild Bill Harvey of the CIA?

Getting published in Penthouse or Playboy was the equivalent of winning the "Golden Ticket" to new talent in the 60's, 70's 80's and 90's.

It makes me sad to see these creative outlets pass away.