'Variety' Goes Behind the Wall; 'The Hollywood Reporter' Goes on Sale

Starting today, Variety will be erecting a novel sort of paywall for its website. Think of it as a game of whack-a-mole, with one out of ten readers being asked for a username and password, according to the description from Ryan Nakashima of the Associated Press.

Subscriptions to the site will go for $248-a-year. This isn't the first time Variety.com has erected a paywall. In 2001, the site made its archive accessible only to paid subscribers, but left its breaking news open to all.

Per the AP: "While the 104-year-old newspaper expects to lose many of its roughly 2.5 million monthly online visitors, it values more highly the 25,000 subscribers of its daily printed version and 30,000 subscribers of its weekly printed version."

Last year, the Hollywood trade was rumored to be up for sale by its parent company, Reed Elsevier. There was also a shakeup of its masthead, with longtime editor Peter Bart becoming vice president and editorial director after 20 years at the helm. Tim Gray was tapped as editor in April 2009.

On Tuesday, the paper hired a new editor for its daily edition, Leo Wolinsky, late of the Los Angeles Times, which prompted Deadline Hollywood's Nikki Finke to grouse, " New Variety Editor Is Ex-LA Timesman Who Knows Nothing About Entertainment Biz." Wolinsky will report to Gray, who's now Variety's Group Editor. Wolinsky sat down for a "grilling" from the Wrap's Sharon Waxman, and told her, "Breaking news becomes number one. Enterprise is extraordinarily important."

Meanwhile, paidContent's Staci D. Kramer is reporting that the sale of Variety's chief rival, the Hollywood Reporter, is moving forward. A group of buyers overseen by James Finkelstein and Pluribus Capital Management will be buying THR, Billboard, AdWeek, Mediaweek, Brandweek, and Backstage from Nielsen Business Media. The price is still unknown, but Kramer writes, "We’ve been told reports of $70 million are too low and that they’re being valued as premium brands with higher multiples if “entire value” is considered, but the actual number is elusive so far. The deal includes the print titles, websites and trade shows."

Contrary to earlier reports, Lachlan Murdoch, son of News Corp. Chairman Rupert Murdoch, is not among the buyers.