AFI BLOG: Media and Technology

Reed Elsevier Ankles Variety, Other U.S. Titles - Advertising Age

Media Giant Looks for Stable Coin Away From Wide Swings of Blurb Biz

Variety, that showbiz bible known for writing in its own slanguage, is up for grabs. Reed Elsevier wants someone else to take over the responsibility of providing the coin, or financing, for the unit that brings in roughly $1.8 billion in revenue.

Reed Elsevier, the media and information giant with units across Europe and North America, has decided to ankle (or quit) running Reed Business Information, the U.S. magazine division that publishes Variety, as well as Broadcasting & Cable and Publishers Weekly. Reed cited an interest in getting away from the wide swings of the ad business, known in Variety-ese as the blurb biz.

“RBI is a well-managed, high-quality business, as evidenced by the success of its online growth and the control of costs,” Crispin Davis, Reed Elsevier’s straight-talking CEO, said in a statement today. “Its advertising revenue model and the inherent cyclicality fit less well, however, with the subscription-based-information and workflow-solutions focus of Reed Elsevier’s strategy.”

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