PlanetOut Inc. and it’s financial troubles are back in the news these days. We’ve posted on it in the past, and both gay and mainstream media has been following the story for some time.
Today comes more financial troubles that pushed the stock prices of PlanetOut Inc. down 23 percent to $4.75 per share Tuesday after the LGBT media giant made statements that it may sell itself. This comes after the owner of gay.com, planetout.com, The Advocate, Out magazine and Out Traveler, among other properties, saw stock prices drop dramatically in May after reporting 1Q 2007 losses widening due to low ad sales and increased operating costs.
There have been many ups and downs for PlanetOut these past several months. A comprehensive story can be found here.
The irony is that these S.O.S. signals from PlanetOut comes at a time when LGBT publications adverts reportedly were at an all-time high at the end of 2006. It’s an increase of over 200% from 1996, but in context, ad buys in 1996 were small, very small.
As companies look at LGBT media partnerships and advertising, they also are making more mainstream advertisements gay vague, a term coined 10 years ago by Mike Wilke, formerly of Advertising Age and now Commercial Closet, for ads that covertly speak to gays or seem to imply gay themes.
Corporation’s embrace of our community as consumers can be seen, as we have said often on this site, as an evolution of society and corporate culture. However, that evolution necessitates some type of adaptation of gay and lesbian media. It’s a difficult call as to whether that’s more aggressive LGBT media courting of corporate advertising or a complete dive from hard copy publications to online properties, at least on the national level.
This is a scenario that seems to be a real-time case study unfolding with PlanetOut. It’s certainly an issue we will be watching. What’s your take on the future of LGBT media giants? Feel free to post a comment here.
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I’m not sure what role these publications & sites actually play in our lives. In theory, I think the idea of glbt media is great, but when I pick up a copy of the Advocate, it seems like a lifestyle pub for a very, very narrow segment of the glbt market. Reviews of music I’ve never heard of, fashion spreads about clothes I’d never wear, vacation spots that don’t interest me, etc.
Some of it may be an emerging “post-gay” sensibility; some of it might just be bad targeting; I’m not sure.