NEW YORK, NY – As part of its continuing effort to restore its former glory – and, more importantly, its former circulation numbers – Penthouse Media Group Inc. has announced the hiring of Diane Silberstein, who had served as Vice President/Publisher for Playboy Magazine for the last two years.According to a press release issued by Penthouse, Silberstein will be responsible for the day-to-day operations of the Penthouse Publishing Group, overseeing the editorial, advertising, production and circulation of each Penthouse publication.
“Penthouse’s future look and voice will give the consumer entree to an engaging mix of subjects,” said Silberstein, “with the core benefit of feeling like an insider who holds the coveted key to unlocking a world of topics honed to the interests of young men.”
Prior to serving as VP and publisher at Playboy, Silberstein worked with Ziff Davis Media as Publisher of Yahoo! Internet Life Magazine. Silberstein began her career with Glamour Magazine, and held top positions at Allure and Vogue before moving on to serve as publisher for both The New Yorker and Elle magazines.
“Diane is a respected executive in publishing, and her expertise in a broad array of categories and knowledge of the business are key to Penthouse in growing the brand as a men’s lifestyle publication and extending the brand further across multi-media platforms,” said Penthouse CEO Marc H. Bell, who purchased the floundering publication in 2004. “We are very excited to have Diane join our team. Her expertise and knowledge in the publishing arena is unsurpassed.”
Both Playboy and Penthouse have suffered declines in circulation in recent years, due in large part to the growth of the adult internet, and a general decline in the popularity of print publications. Penthouse has definitely seen a greater drop than its primary competitor, and is now making a concerted effort to reach a larger, more “mainstream” audience.
In its prime, Penthouse boasted a circulation of over 5 million copies a month, whereas it now reaches well below 500,000. According to the Audit Bureau of Circulation, Playboy’s paid circulation averaged 3.11 million in the first six months of 2005, down 1.9% from 2004, while Penthouse’s circulation was 355,698 for the same period of 2005, down over 11% from 2004’s average of 400,229.
In an effort to boost circulation, Penthouse has been scaling back on how “hardcore” their images are, and now offer spreads that look much more like those found in Playboy. The magazine has also reduced the number of overtly sexual articles in each issue, and is increasing the scope of topics to include other areas of interest to men, like technology, gaming, men’s health and sports.
