National Enquirer Being Sold To CEO Of Hudson Media, Known For Its Airport Newsstands – Update
UPDATED, 12:37 PM: American Media Inc. will sell its National Enquirer and two sister pubs for $100 million to Hudson Media CEO James Cohen. The travel retail company is known for its airport newsstands, the Washington Post reports.
The paper adds that AMI’s decision to sell the Enquirer, which is run by longtime Donald Trump friend and confidant David Pecker, came after hedge fund manager whose firm controls AMI became disillusioned with the tabloid’s reporting tactics.
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American Media has been under increasing pressure amid allegations that the Enquirer did its part to secure the 2016 presidential election for Trump.
PREVIOUSLY, April 10: American Media LLC, the parent corporation of the National Enquirer, is “exploring strategic options” for the tabloid brand, according to its announcement. The moves likely mean a sale is in the works.
The board for American Media began reviewing operations for the National Enquirer last August for the US (National Enquirer) and UK edition (National Enquirer Globe).
“We have been keenly focused on leveraging the popularity of our celebrity glossy, teen and active lifestyle brands while developing new and robust platforms including broadcast and audio programming, and a live events business, that now deliver significant revenue streams,” said a statement from American Media president and CEO David J. Pecker. “Because of this focus, we feel the future opportunities with the tabloids can be best exploited by a different ownership.”
American Media has been expanding in the last two years, buying Us Weekly, Men’s Journal, Bauer’s US celebrity and teen line, and TEN: Publishing’s Adventure Sports Network (ASN). The ASN addition of adventure and sports brands made American Media the worlds sixth-largest sports media brand in the world.
Beyond the National Enquirer, American Media owns Star, OK!, In Touch, Life & Style, Closer, Men’s Journal, Muscle & Fitness, Powder, Snowboarder, Surfer, Us Weekly and Bike. American Media also manages nineteen different digital sites. American Media’s magazines have a combined total circulation of 5.7+ million and reach approximately 49.4 million men and women each month. American Media’s digital properties reach approximately 65 million unique visitors monthly.
Erik Pedersen contributed to this report.
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