YNOT – The group of gay adult companies formerly operated as separate entities by New York-based EuroMedia merged this week into one company to be known going forward as Media Partners LLC.
Among the properties under the new entity’s umbrella are distributor EuroMedia Distribution; pay site CockyBoys.com; e-tail outlet StudMall.com; blogs BennyMorecock.com, INeedGayPornBlog.com and StudMuffinBlog.com; the Maleserve video-on-demand platform and affiliate program Big Bling.
EuroMedia, the core of the new company, formed in 2006 as a distribution arm for London-based Eurocreme Group. The New York distributor began expanding its holdings in 2010 with the purchase of one of its client studios, CockyBoys, along with the studio’s affiliate program, Big Bling. Since the acquisition, CockyBoys has expanded its DVD-release schedule and signed production teams in New York, Montreal and Los Angeles.
“The tremendous success of CockyBoys has caused us to shift our focus to American-made content,” said CockyBoys Creative Director Benny Morecock. “We are grateful the site has become so popular, and we feel a strong obligation to our membership and affiliates to continue delivering and improving on our high-quality content.”
Media Partners Director of Development Hugo Harley said the increased focus on American content precipitated the company’s name change.
“Our decision to drop the ‘Euro’ from our name and create a new business entity is due in part to the expansion of our business into sectors reaching beyond DVD, but is also a reflection of the direction to which the company’s business has been headed,” Harley said. “For the last two years, sales of European product have been declining, due to a flood of product from the EU and a lack of American-produced content.
“The one exception is the BelAmi/Lukas Ridgeston brand, a brand originating in Europe that manages to transcend geographical categorization,” he continued. “It is arguably the biggest-selling all-male global DVD line today. We were instrumental in helping the studio create and market several blockbusters over the past two years, with Taboo and More Than You Can Handle selling over 10,000 copies each.”
BelAmi/Lukas Ridgeston remains a client of Media Partners’ distribution division. Other lines in the company’s distribution portfolio include Eurocreme, Benny Morecock Presents, Bareback Inc., Used & Abused, Joe Gage, Ray Dragon Media and Cobra Video. The company recently acquired the catalogs of eBoys Studios and Deviant Boys.
According to Morecock, affiliate program Big Bling also expects to expand during 2012, with plans to launch several new pay sites “in the coming months.”
