It is no secret that the past 10 years have been gruesome for the print industry. Some publishers like the New York Times, USA Today and the Washington Post have been able to find ways to survive and adapt. But for every success story, there is also failure. Playboy Enterprises is our latest example of what looks like cataclysmic failure.

The hints of Playboy’s possible demise have been intact since January when it was announced that the Playboy Mansion was up for sale at approximately $200 million. Playboy also announced last October that they would be eliminating nudity from their magazines in order to increase readership and gain a general audience base. The company owned by media maven Hugh Hefner even hired Master P as a radio and television talk show host covering love and relationships for Playboy Radio and Playboy TV in an attempt to grab an urban audience which Playboy hasn’t normally served in the past.

The rise of the internet has played a major role in all of the financial suffering Playboy is undertaking at the moment.

Sites such as PornHub have taken the place in today’s society that Playboy once had in its heyday. According to data, the word “PornHub” averages 56 million Google searches. The Huffington Post also reports that porn sites receive more visitors than Netflix, Amazon and Twitter COMBINED. Porn sites reportedly average 450 million views per month as of 2013.

While Playboy is invested in adult films and is of course well known for their nude photos on magazines, they did not come up with an adequate way to compete with online websites that have now taken their market share.

Larry Flynt and Hustler have told the New York Daily News they’re interested in buying the Playboy Mansion but not at $200 million. The rival company will also likely be a suitor for Hefner’s empire.

About Jessie Karangu

I am a Kenyan-American broadcast journalist.
An avid tweeter (follow me @JMKTV).
I hope to make a difference in the world.
I was the commencement speaker at my college graduation, Scott Van Pelt was the other speaker (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vFUk5PPFkT0)
I won an award for outstanding achievement in sports from the Emmy organization.
My dream is to be the black Ryan Seacrest.