CNET NEWS — Jan 14 — A third of the staff were laid off this week at PlanetOut. On January 8, PlanetOut issued a press release announcing that it was merging with its competitors Here Networks and Regent Entertainment Media, the publishers of LGBT magazines The Advocate, Out, and HIVPlus.
The full article was originally published at CNet, but is no longer available.
SF BUSINESS TIMES — Jan 9 — Gay and lesbian media company PlanetOut Inc will merge with Here Networks and Regent Entertainment Media, two related businesses that have bought parts of PlanetOut in the past few years. Here Media and Regent will pay $4.7m in cash into the new company as part of the deal. They'll own, through special preferred shares, 80% of the business after the merger.
The full article was originally published at SF Business Times, but is no longer available.
QUEERTY — Oct 15 — PlanetOut's Gay.com spent untold sums of cash revamping its infrastructure in the past few months. Except ever since the gay hub debuted the new version of its site at the beginning of the month, Gay.com has been plagued by downtime. By our rough science, it's been offline more than it's been online. Gay.com sent an apology letter to members stating they were adjusting their hardware configurations and software code and fixing the bugs that have resulted in unplanned system outages. FULL ARTICLE @ QUEERTY
SAN FRANCISCO BUSINESS TIMES — Apr 3 — PlanetOut, a media company running web sites and magazines aimed at lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender customers, has put Expedia in charge of travel booking on its web sites. In the past, a good chunk of PlanetOut's revenue came from travel bookings, although former CEO Lowell Selvin said in late 2004 that two-thirds of the company's money came from matchmaking and dating services and advertising. But the company's online segment has been contributing less to its revenue for each of the last three years. In 2005 it accounted for 87%, in 2006 54%, and in 2007 51%. In February, PlanetOut reported a $51.2m loss for 2007. FULL ARTICLE @ SAN FRANCISCO BUSINESS TIMES
REUTERS — Jan 14 – PlanetOut, which serves the gay, lesbian, bisexual and transgender community, is evaluating strategic alternatives, including a possible sale of the company. PlanetOut, which has been reporting a loss for the last seven quarters, said it will no longer provide quarterly or annual earnings outlook and will not hold quarterly earnings calls. FULL ARTICLE @ REUTERS
PINKNEWS.CO.UK — Oct 15 — PlanetOut – parent company of The Advocate, Out magazine, Gay.com, and PlanetOut.com – has announced plans to sell its travel business RSVP Vacations to Atlantis Events. PlanetOut, which recently was rescued from bankruptcy by investors such as Bill Gates, is attempting to reverse declining advertising revenues.
The full article was originally published at Pink News, but is no longer available.
Mark Brooks: Gay.com is down 5.6% over last year. Manhunt.net is up 38%. Free site, Adam4Adam is also up 38%. I tested Manhunt's customer service out after their CEO, Adam Segel, mentioned to me at the Shanghai Social Networking Conference that Manhunt.net has 20 minute email response times. Surely not?! But, it's true! And they picked up their phone line on the 3rd ring when I tried the customer service line. What's your site's email response time?
PAID CONTENT.ORG — July 2 — PlanetOut which operates websites, magazines and travel services for the gay and lesbian community just sold 56% of it's company for $26.2 million. Buyers include Cascade Investment (of which Bill Gates is an investor) as well as SF Capital Partners, PAR Investment Partners and Allen & Co. PlanetOut has had difficulty since making numerous acquisitions following its IPO in October 2004.
The full article was originally published at Paid Content, but is no longer available.
DOW JONES NEWSWIRE — June 28 — Though corporate interest in the gay dollar may be on the rise, Planet Out struggles. Their stock price is down from the IPO price of $9 (Oct. 2004) to $1.30 today. The company faces stiff competition from other media outlets, and its online business and recent acquisitions, such as RSVP Vacations, aren't performing as expected. The company is now considering strategic options, says CEO Karen Magee. She won't say whether the company is for sale, but said it may sell its adult entertainment business. PlanetOut faces stiff competition in the gay media market. Although the company doesn't own a TV network, Viacom Logo network, NBC's Bravo and Here! Networks all have Web operations. Various blogs and lifestyle sites have also popped up, like AfterEllen.com and AfterElton.com, newcomer GLEE and Queerty, social-networking sites Manhunt.net, Adam4Adam.com and OurChart.com.
OPW — May 29 — A little birdie told me…”Also, update regarding PlanetOut, Inc. and Gay.com. Their investment banker, Allen & Co., said that no part of PlanetOut's business is currently for sale. Allen & Co. is a prior investor in the business and has confidence in the current management (and is being paid a fee in the form of warrants to buy 750,000 shares at $1.69 a share). They are confident they can raise the $15 MM cash to continue the business through this year and that the value will be there in the long run. Good luck to them and the Red Sox. If shares recover to $5, they'll hit a home run.” Take a look at PlanetOut stock now. Up from a low of 86c on Tuesday May 22nd to $1.39 now. Someone made a killing already. – Mark Brooks
PAID CONTENT — May 22 — The owners of PlanetOut hope to raise $15 million+ in new equity or subordinated debt as it tries to dig out from $26.5 million in debt. The trouble began two years ago when PlanetOut went on a shopping spree, acquiring the RSVP Vacations cruise business and LPI Publications, publishers of Out, OutTraveler, and The Advocate, as well as several pornographic magazines under the Specialty Publications brand. Several senior executives have resigned. Some of the problems besetting the company may be due to the migration of gay people to sites such as MySpace.
The full article was originally published at PaidContent, but is no longer available.
Mark Brooks: Advice to PlanetOut: Divest the magazines and travel companies and stick to your knitting, online content and memberships and advertising. PlanetOut has been too busy trying to fill cruise ships and sell magazine subscriptions to focus on the future. Manhunt.net (casual adult) and MyPartnerPerfect.com (about to be launched, serious dating) are biting at PlanetOut's heels.