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Tag: Rolling Stone

  • Wenner Media acquires Disney’s 50% stake in ‘Us Weekly’

    Wenner Media acquires Disney’s 50% stake in ‘Us Weekly’

    MUMBAI: Wenner Media has acquired Disney’s 50 per cent stake in Us Weekly LLC, which publishes Us Weekly, and now once again owns the magazine in its entirety.

    Disney had invested in Us Weekly and formed the 50/50 Us Weekly LLC joint venture with Wenner Media in February 2001, advancing Us Weekly’s transition to the weekly frequency. Under the joint venture, which was managed by Wenner Media, Us Weekly revamped its format, spearheading the evolution of the celebrity magazine genre, and doubled circulation from 850,000 to 1.75 million, making it one of the fastest growing titles in the publishing industry. During that same period, advertising pages also doubled.

    For the first six months of this year, Us Weekly’s circulation grew by seven per cent (from H1 2005), with newsstand sales surpassing the one million mark for the first time. For the same period, ad pages grew by four per cent to 912 pages.

    Wenner Media chairman Jann Wenner said, “Disney has been a superb partner and we will miss them. I am deeply grateful for their vote of confidence in Us at a time when not everyone thought we had much of a future or there was a future in celebrity magazines.”

    Disney CEO and president Robert Iger said, “Jann Wenner and his team have been great partners over the course of our involvement with Us Weekly. They have managed this business extremely well and we wish them continued success.”

    Launched as a bi-monthly publication in 1977, Us Weekly was acquired by Wenner Media in 1986. The magazine moved from a monthly to a weekly format in March 2000. Privately held Wenner Media also owns and publishes Rolling Stone and Men’s Journal.

  • MTV, Rolling Stone team for reality series

    MTV, Rolling Stone team for reality series

    MUMBAI: Amateur journalists will vie for a year long position at Rolling Stone magazine in a new reality series for MTV US.

    Contestants will work with the veteran music magazine’s senior editors to develop their writing skills and secure interviews with artists, actors and politicians.

    Rolling Stone founder and publish Jann Wenner says, “Throughout our history we have seen the careers of some of the nation’s most notable journalists flourish, including Cameron Crowe and the late Hunter S. Thompson. We are anxious to meet the candidates and welcome them into the Rolling Stone family as they embark on their professional careers.”

    MTV executive VP programming Lois Curren says, “The series will capture the drama and excitement of the fast-paced world of Rolling Stone. Rolling Stone has long been an incubator for top journalists, which makes this an amazing opportunity for aspiring writers.”

    The show will be taped in New York from June through August and is expected to premiere later this year.