Tweet
Vibe Magazine has reportedly been purchased by a media firm which plans to re-launch the publication this fall and place an emphasis on its digital coverage.
The Vibe purchase was announced Wednesday (August 12) morning.
A group led by Leo Hindery's PE firm InterMedia Partners and its luxury publisher Uptown Media is picking up the magazine, and more important, its website. Vibe.com is the linchpin of the plans described in the WSJ : reopen the site in coming weeks, publish a print edition at the end of the year with and then go quarterly. No financial terms but maybe CapitalSource Bank, which foreclosed on previous owner Wicks Group, is paying them a dollar. The acquisition gives InterMedia more to market to advertisers targeting African-Americans. The Journal says the site and the mag will be packaged with Uptown magazine; ads for the site will be sold by Blackrock Digital. Editorially, they'll go wider than hip-hop, which should help. (Reuters)
InterMedia Partners President David Koff has confirmed the purchase.
"Vibe is the preeminent brand in R&B and hip-hop," he said in a statement. "We feel privileged to purchase and resurrect such a storied brand. Together with the relaunch of Soul Train this fall and the rapid expansion of Uptown Magazine, a reinvigorated Vibe enables us to serve a broad spectrum of the African American audience with high quality entertainment and information." (Hip Hop Press)
Vibe founder Quincy Jones previously described the strategy he planned to take in order to keep his publication running.
"I'm trying to buy my magazine back now," he said in an interview. "They just messed my magazine all up, but I'm gonna get it back. You better believe it, I'ma take it online because print and all that stuff is over. We gotta get into the 21st century you know. Print and all that stuff is over, we gotta remember that. The Chicago Tribune, The Seattle Post Intelligencer. The Miami Herald. They're over the same way as the record business. We have got to get into this century." (Ebony Jet)
The Vibe purchase was announced Wednesday (August 12) morning.
A group led by Leo Hindery's PE firm InterMedia Partners and its luxury publisher Uptown Media is picking up the magazine, and more important, its website. Vibe.com is the linchpin of the plans described in the WSJ : reopen the site in coming weeks, publish a print edition at the end of the year with and then go quarterly. No financial terms but maybe CapitalSource Bank, which foreclosed on previous owner Wicks Group, is paying them a dollar. The acquisition gives InterMedia more to market to advertisers targeting African-Americans. The Journal says the site and the mag will be packaged with Uptown magazine; ads for the site will be sold by Blackrock Digital. Editorially, they'll go wider than hip-hop, which should help. (Reuters)
InterMedia Partners President David Koff has confirmed the purchase.
"Vibe is the preeminent brand in R&B and hip-hop," he said in a statement. "We feel privileged to purchase and resurrect such a storied brand. Together with the relaunch of Soul Train this fall and the rapid expansion of Uptown Magazine, a reinvigorated Vibe enables us to serve a broad spectrum of the African American audience with high quality entertainment and information." (Hip Hop Press)
Vibe founder Quincy Jones previously described the strategy he planned to take in order to keep his publication running.
"I'm trying to buy my magazine back now," he said in an interview. "They just messed my magazine all up, but I'm gonna get it back. You better believe it, I'ma take it online because print and all that stuff is over. We gotta get into the 21st century you know. Print and all that stuff is over, we gotta remember that. The Chicago Tribune, The Seattle Post Intelligencer. The Miami Herald. They're over the same way as the record business. We have got to get into this century." (Ebony Jet)