Gawker: kent brownridge

Top Editor Out At OK!

Hamilton Nolan — Thu, 29 Jan 2009 15:20:20 EST

Celebrity-friendly photo-heavy gossip rag OK! just can't find any stability in this cold world! Its latest editor has been fired, just months after taking over. (Updated below)

Susan Toepfer was reportedly fired today, just seven issues after she moved from the shuttered Quick & Simple and took over for Sarah Ivens. The entire team of sub-editors that Toepfer brought with her are reportedly being let go as well.

None of this looks good for Kent Brownridge, the former Jann Wenner deputy who joined OK! as its GM last September. We heard in November that OK's billionaire British publisher Richard Desmond actually deigned to come and personally investigate why Brownridge wasn't doing well. By December, OK! was hastily cutting back the number of issues it publishes—not a sign of profitability.

Whoever comes next has a thankless job. [Fashion Week Daily]

UPDATE: Sarah Ivens is back! She had previously gotten fed up with Richard Desmond, we hear, and went to live in Kentucky with her husband. But they've settled their differences, apparently, because she's back as EIC. Kent Brownridge, however—who was making a million bucks a year, we hear, while losing the company millions more—is out.]

OK! Mag Boss Is Very Tired Of Losing Money

Hamilton Nolan — Thu, 13 Nov 2008 17:11:33 EST

Internal drama at baby picture factory OK! magazine? You don't say! Richard Desmond, the crappy celebrity mag's billionaire owner, brought in former Wenner Media exec Kent Brownridge to be GM of the American version of OK! just a couple of months ago. But apparently Brownridge hasn't been able to make any money yet, and it's making the Brit Desmond mad enough to get on a plane to the distasteful nation of America!:

A tipster tells us:

"Richard Desmond has flew to NYC to meet with Kent. Since he started OK
had missed it base rate everyweek. Desmond is livid about having to
give advertisers money back. He hates coming to NYC and only comes
when there is a problem.

Before Kent arrive Richard hired Bruce Steinberg as CEO. He got fired
after 6 months when sales and advertising didn't increase. If Kent
doesn't fix it soon he will also get fired. He promised Richard he
could make magazine profitable by end of year.

Every issue since OK launched 3 years ago has lost money. Kent has
just canceled the holiday party and instead they are going to johnny
utah with a cash bar."

How long must these good people suffer? Update: A spokesperson for OK! denies the claim that circulation is slipping, saying "The magazine has made rate base every issue," and adds, "The magazine is doing fine…in fact…Kent is one of the only people in the magazine industry hiring people.... And currently there are five positions he is looking to fill....he is keeping head hunters busy." As for Desmond's visit, the magazine's official line is that "Richard Desmond was in the States to go on Ad calls with Kent….they did 22 calls together for 50 clients…"

OK! Chief Supersizing His Office?

Hamilton Nolan — Mon, 03 Nov 2008 11:29:42 EST

Just because we're in the midst of the Great Magazine Die-Off and print media in general is having its worst month in the past 20 years is no reason to force editors into less-than-grand offices! We hear that Kent Brownridge, the new general manager of OK! magazine, is "having a wall removed" and combining two offices into a one big, bad, office for Kent Brownridge, at an estimated cost of $50K. "The old man is still obsessed with his old boss Jann Wenner and is insisting that his office at OK be bigger than Jann's office at Us Weekly," says our source. That, despite the fact that OK! is suffering like every other celebrity magazine. Regardless, the last thing anyone in the media wants to see is Kent Brownridge in a moderately-sized office. Carry on. [Feel free to email us, Kent!]

For Frugal OK!, No Posh Bonnie Fuller

Ryan Tate — Thu, 23 Oct 2008 21:03:01 EDT

Perhaps the recent rumors about editor-from-hell Bonnie Fuller helming celebrity weekly OK! were a clever way of ensuring a warm staff welcome for the real editor-in-chief and publisher, both set for announcement tomorrow. They are former Quick & Simple EIC Susan Toepfer and Niche Media senior VP Lori Burgess, respectively, the Post's Keith Kelly is reporting. Recently-installed general manager Kent Brownridge insisted his choice for editor "had never been Bonnie," but his passing on the pricey and profligate former Us Weekly chief is as good a sign as any that the economic meltdown will slam celebrity entertainment media as it has banking and real estate.

Other signs: Brownridge is said to be slashing the budget for celebrity babies. The painful (if inevitable) result: "Very low" newstand sales. And the downward spiral begins.

Supposed grade-A celebrities just don't offer the return they once did. So it is that Wired, of all publications, looks like the smart innovator in celebrity media, moving copies with leggy-but-so-very-inexpensive Julia Allison on the cover.

Remember, celeb investors, subprime holdings can be very profitable when you buy them cheap. One assumes the new OK! guys (also including incoming executive creative director Trey Speegle) will be fast studies in this regard.

Panic Reaches Famous-Baby Picture Market

Ryan Tate — Fri, 26 Sep 2008 07:26:54 EDT

As if celebrity babies didn't face enough perils — paparazzi, feuding celebrity parents, ill-advised playdates with Michael Jackson — they now have to keep a weary little eye on the stock market. Because amid Wall Street meltdown and the worst advertising decline in seven years rumors are now swirling that the undisputed highroller in the market for pictures of famous infants, OK! magazine, is cutting off payments for exclusive shots of the little tykes. (Sure, the fees usually went to charity, but you can't put a price tag on adulation.) New general manager Kent Brownridge has allegedly said "no more picture buying, and to keep readers interested we will have to 'get creative,'" a disgruntled staffer told Page Six. Underlings are no doubt praying Brownridge doesn't confirm another rumor and squander the savings hiring boss-from-hell Bonnie Fuller to replace a departing Sarah Ivens. Reports the Post:

Fuller insisted nothing was afoot. Via e-mail, she said, "I think Kent is terrific and I wish him all the best in his new position. I'm very happy working on my new venture, Bonnie Fuller Media."

Read: "As if Brownridge could meet my seven-figure demands."

We told you subprime protocelebs like Julia Allison and Emily Brill would eventually torpedo the AAAs!

OK! Trying To Make Baby Pics Finally Pay

Ryan Tate — Wed, 03 Sep 2008 07:19:32 EDT

Kent Brownridge, former deputy to magazine mogul Jann Wenner and recent overlord to Maxim and Blender, is now general manager of the U.S. edition of free-spending celebrity weekly OK!. It seems that between billionaire owner Richard Desmond supplying famous-baby-photo cash and editors Sarah Ivens and the creepy Rob Shuter keeping sources fluffed, OK! needed someone to, like, sell some ads or something. Brownridge apparently didn't compile a stellar track record doing that for Maxim and company, which earlier this month squeezed him from his job, but as Shuter knows, OK! is fast becoming a miraculous land of second media-industry chances. [Post]

Jann Wenner Is Preggers! Jann Wenner Says He Is An Extraordinarily Talented, Prescient Individual!

Maggie — Fri, 02 Nov 2007 14:00:13 EDT

Rolling Stone and Us Weekly owner Jann Wenner and his partner, Matt Nye, (for whom he dropped his wife, Jane) are expecting twins in January, according to Business Week's Jon Fine. The newest little Wenners will join his current army of four. But this party is just beginning—the interview transcript is something to behold. Some highlights!

Don't even try to start a magazine today; Wenner says it's impossible. Besides financing and publishing support, "you need, at the center of it, some extraordinarily talented, prescient individual. Such as I was." Oh!
Wenner regrets selling Outside magazine. He does not give a shit about the Internets.
On US Weekly: "As trivial you may think the subject matter is, it is a really well-executed product, with high standards of writing and wit and photography and design."
Awkward moment: Fine: "I want to pull back for a minute, and go back to the view from 30,000 feet—" to which Wenner replies: "I like it when I'm seeing you 30,000 feet." Fine: "Ha."
If he could go back 20 years and see himself now ? "I'd think, Wow. I'd think, how incredible. What a lucky guy. What great writing. He's covering all that music I like. He's friends with all those people. He gets to go to all the great concerts. God. What a fantastic job. Which is exactly what 21-year-olds think of me right now...Honestly, [the 21-year-olds] want to be me. I mean, really." Oh Jann, only the insecure and overcompensating ones!
Jann does not miss Kent Brownridge, his number 2. "No, not at all." Nor does he miss former Men's Journal editor and former Rolling Stoner Jim Kaminsky, who joined Brownridge at Maxim. "Honestly, god bless him, I'm glad he left. He was taking it in a direction I didn't like. Kind of an airline magazine."
The irrelevance of Time magazine, which he does not read: "What does Time magazine stand for on the Internet? About the same thing it stands for as magazine. Well, who wants it? You've got CNN online. You got New York Times online. Got the Washington Post online. You've got so many other journalistic news organizations online, why would you turn to Time?"
What Jann does read: Vanity Fair, the New Yorker, the Times, the Washington Post and the Journal. "I might stop reading the Journal," he tells Fine. "Well, we'll see what happens, and how damaging [Rupert Murdoch] is to it...I've got so much [expletive] going on."
So do we, Jann! Like, we have to get back to wishing desperately we could be you! Well, minus the nearly-jobless married guy wandering around New York claiming he made out with you. Him, you can keep. We're just interested in the terrified minions and the total disconnect with reality.

Is Karen Danziger The Best Media Headhunter?

Choire — Mon, 10 Sep 2007 12:00:13 EDT

Today Kent Brownridge, Jann Wenner's former right-hand man and the honcho of new Alpha Media, the former Dennis Publishing, shouts the praises of media headhunter Karen Danziger. She's the exec vice president of Howard-Sloan-Koller Group, and she was the one who suggested somewhat frightening former Rolling Stone guy Jim Kaminsky as the new editor of Maxim. Brownridge tells Portfolio: "Karen Danziger, the only headhunter in the editorial world that I think is worth anything, and she's worth a lot — I love her; she's my sister, shrink, priest, whatever — she gives me a list of people that I should go see, and on it is Jim, and I think, oh, well, Jim." Heh. That's how we felt about Jim too—but then Kent got all frothy on him, and hired him. We've met Karen—she's fun, mouthy, doesn't like idiots, and she dresses like the high-end version of a sharp Long Island lady. But is she all that? Your experiences sought, anonymity guaranteed.

Multiple sources confirm that Maxim editor...

Doree Shafrir — Thu, 23 Aug 2007 16:33:22 EDT

Multiple sources confirm that Maxim editor in chief Jimmy Jellinek has been canned by his new boss, Kent Brownridge, and his newly christened Alpha Media Group. Furthermore, a source tells us that it happened right before the 4 p.m. start of the Alpha Media Group launch party at the Cellar Bar at the Bryant Park Hotel. Ouch. UPDATE: Former Men's Journal editor Jim Kaminsky, who used to be Maxim's executive editor and was formerly deputy managing editor at Rolling Stone, will be the new EIC.

Kent Brownridge, Alpha Male, Has Lad Mags

abalk — Wed, 15 Aug 2007 14:04:54 EDT

Kent Brownridge's acquisition of the Felix Dennis lad titles is finally complete. As mentioned before, Stuff will be folded into Maxim. No word yet on layoffs or whether they're shopping Maxim editor Jimmy Jellinek's job, but the press release, which you can find below, does indicate that stuffmagazine.com "will continue to be a digital destination," presumably because there are enough people who are still willing to jerk off to it.

QUADRANGLE CAPITAL PARTNERS AND KENT BROWNRIDGE COMPLETE ACQUISITION OF DENNIS PUBLISHING

Company Is Renamed Alpha Media Group

Stuff Magazine To Become A Regular Section In Maxim Magazine
____________________________________

New York, NY, August 15, 2007 - Quadrangle Capital Partners II LP, a private equity fund focused on the media and communications industries, today announced the completion of its acquisition of Dennis Publishing, Inc. Longtime media executive, Kent Brownridge, will serve as the Chief Executive Officer of the newly renamed company, Alpha Media Group Inc.

"Alpha Media Group's assets are among the best in the publishing industry," said Brownridge. "The magazines and websites are uniquely positioned among the young male demographic and are extremely attractive platforms for advertisers. I am particularly pleased to be partnering with Quadrangle, whose experience and expertise in the media industry is unmatched."

Alpha Media Group also announced today that Stuff magazine, launched in 1998, will cease publication after the October issue—it will then appear as a regular section in Maxim magazine.

"Stuff magazine is a clear and purposeful brand that will continue to reach its audience through Maxim," said Brownridge.

Stuffmagazine.com will not be affected; it will continue to be a digital destination.

About Alpha Media Group Inc.
Alpha Media Group Inc. is a multimedia company that includes Maxim and Blender magazines and their websites Maxim.com and Blender.com. Maxim magazine is the most successful modern men's lifestyle magazine in America reaching more than 12.4 million readers each month. Blender is a general interest music magazine that reaches nearly 2 million readers monthly. Maxim.com and Blender.com reach an average 5.2 million unique visitors monthly. Additionally, Maxim magazine is published in 43 countries; Maxim Radio is broadcast on Sirius Satellite Radio on channel 108.

About Quadrangle Group LLC
Quadrangle Group LLC is a private investment firm with over $6 billion in assets under management. Quadrangle invests in media and communications companies through separate private and public investment strategies and in debt securities across all industries through a debt investment program. Quadrangle Capital Partners represent its private equity funds that specialize in the media and communications industries. All investment strategies seek to maximize value by leveraging the investment teams' extensive experience, knowledge and industry relationships. For more information, please visit http://www.quadranglegroup.com.

Kent Brownridge rumored to have won the Dennis...

Doree Shafrir — Thu, 31 May 2007 18:03:19 EDT

Kent Brownridge rumored to have won the Dennis Publishing auction, which means he's now the proud owner of Maxim. It also means he beat out Ron Burkle. [AdAge]

Tiny Dynamine

abalk2 — Fri, 18 May 2007 08:50:52 EDT

Lockhart Steele: Elizabeth Spiers invented the Internet. [MarketWatch]

British magazine publisher Emap in play? [WSJ]

It's Ron Burkle vs. Kent Brownridge in the battle for Dennis Publishing's titty mags. [AdAge]

Is Village Voice Media slowly selling itself off? [SF Gate]

CollegeHumor's Ricky Van Veen: Sophomoric, rich, and one fine looking man. Seriously, we've met the dude, and we would totally do him. [BW]

Don Imus wants to get back on the air. Why not, this is America. We all deserve third acts. [NYP]

Media Bubble: Charlie Gibson for 'WNT' Anchor

Jesse — Wed, 15 Mar 2006 13:01:09 EST

• Today's speculation on the next World News Tonight anchor: Charlie Gibson. Because Diane wants him to. [NYO]
• That Times Mag Mark-Warner-Looks-Nothing-Like-His-Photo correction? It's all thanks to the Observer. [NYO]
• Howell Raines' latest memoir TK on May 9. In case 20,000 words in The Atlantic wasn't enough for you. [E&P]
• Kent Brownridge is gone from Wenner Media. Again. For real. We think. [NYP]
• And Jann startes hunting for a new Kent. Mary Berner, maybe? [WWD]
• The Times thinks Hillary's running for president, too: She'll now be covered through the Washburo instead of the Metro desk. [NYO]

Media Bubble: You'll All Miss Kent Brownridge

Jesse — Mon, 28 Nov 2005 16:12:45 EST

• Simon Dumenco doesn't buy the revisionist history that Jann Wenner pushed out Kent Brownridge, but he knows the often-incompetent mag business will miss the man Dumenco dubbed Dr. Evil. [AdAge]
• New Plamegate wrinkle: Now the prosecutor wants to talk to Time's Viveca Novak, who's so far cooperating with the investigation. It's nice to officially know that at least one Novak is, even if the wrong one. [NYT]
• Bad news for our favorite gray-haired boytoy: Anderson Cooper's rating are down 19 percent relative to Aaron Brown's last week as anchor. [Mediaweek]
• It's hard being Bob Woodward these days. [WP]
• For its 1,000th issue, Rolling Stone to go 3-D on its cover. Because flashy sales gimmicks are always a sign of a strong, vibrant product. [NYT]
• Another reason you can never leave the city: Newly hired report at Manchester, N.H., newspaper is fired for having "a New York attitude." [Boston Phoenix]
• Hearst's new Quick & Simple simply ain't selling very quickly, suggesting the women's-mag market is cooling — or even cooled off. Also: Maxim learns to appreciate older women. [WWD (second and third items)]
• Four years later, the de-anthraxing of American Media's former HQ in Florida is nearly complete. They're still working on how to de-Bonnie. [Jossip]
• Kazakhstan takes four-page ad in New York Times to refute allegations made by Ali G's Borat. Next week, USPS will take four-page ad to refute allegations made by Seinfeld's Newman. [E&P]
• Good editors protect their staffers. Except, you know, when they don't. [MB]
• Forthcoming New York mag article on Hasidic sect ruffles feathers even before its published. [Canonist]

Gawker's Week in Review: Jessica Simpson Left Flackless

Jessica — Sat, 19 Nov 2005 16:34:24 EST

• Jessica Simpson gets dumped by her publicist, who's tired of lying to the world about miserable state of Simpson's marriage. Could the PR industry be having its Jerry Maguire moment? Nah.
• Wenner honcho Kent Brownridge is (possibly) forced into an early retirement, courtesy of big Jann himself. Sadly, his possible successor is fresh from rehab — that's no fun.
• Sexual assault suspect and fake fireman Peter Braunstein continues to flit about New York, and yet no one can seem to catch the mofo. Especially not the hipsters or Greg Lindsay.
• Kimberly Stewart, eager to be more Paris Hilton than we can stomach, gets engaged to barely-legal Laguna Beach star Talan Torriero.
• Anderson Cooper and Ryan Seacrest could adopt the most beautiful gay babies.
• Time mag begins its debate on the person of the year, and you predictably voted for Mother Nature.
• Gawker Media makes a distribution deal with Yahoo!, which sanitizes us without completely selling out.
• Inside TV folds, and TV Guide lays off editors who need to take a personal leave.
• And Mort Zuckerman reminds his staffers that in the Jew's house, Christmas doesn't mean shit.

Kent Brownridge Should Have Seen It Coming

Jesse — Fri, 18 Nov 2005 14:05:34 EST

A pal far more theatrical than we are calls to our attention, per the latest Wenner Media tumult, the opening scene of Shakespeare's King Lear. In it, Lear banishes a loyal longtime ally from his kingdom, even though the ally is merely looking out for the king's best interests.

The banished ally's name? Kent.

Jesus. We're even blown away by our own dorkiness right now.

Act 1, Scene 1 [King Lear]
Earlier:
Did Kent Brownridge's Stones Get Rolled?
Misty Water-Colored Memories of the Way Kent Was

Misty Water-Colored Memories of the Way Kent Was

Jesse — Fri, 18 Nov 2005 12:16:39 EST

It's tough to decide on our favorite bit in WWD's profile today of outgoing Wenner Media honcho Kent Brownridge.

It might be one of the simple, anonymous snipes at the beginning of the piece, that of course this isn't a voluntary retirement. Perhaps:

"No way was this a planned retirement," said one former high-level Wenner employee. "He was definitely forced out."

It could also be the anonymous snipes from the end of the piece, that Jann can't possibly run his company without Kent. Perhaps:

"This is a disaster," agreed another insider. "Kent is very shrewd, very realistic and pretty reasonable and practical. Jann is none of those things."

But we suppose we'd have to go with anything from the long middle of the piece. That's where you find great anecdotes like:

Several insiders claimed Brownridge would go over expense reports personally; when one aroused his suspicions, he would call restaurants to investigate whether employees were claiming phantom lunch companions in order to get around strict per-person limits on meal expenditures.

And:

[A]nother former employee recalled what happened when a Wenner editor sent staffers home at lunchtime last New Year's Eve. When Brownridge found out, he took the half day out of the truant staffers' vacation days, and docked pay from those who had none left.

"They won't find another Kent," a former Wenner CFO says. One can only hope.

Charting Wenner After Brownridge [WWD]

Meet Wenner's New Dr. Evil

Jesse — Thu, 17 Nov 2005 10:21:23 EST

With longtime general manager Kent Brownridge on his way to retirement, Jann Wenner will need a new bad cop to his (moderately) good cop. The early money is on Gary Armstrong, Wenner Media's chief marketing officer.

And what do we know about Armstrong? Not much, really. Except this, from Page Six two months ago:

Us Weekly has another embarrassing staff issue. Just two weeks after Hot Stuff editor Tim McDarrah was arrested for trying to solicit a minor, the staff was told on Tuesday that the magazine's marketing head, Gary Armstrong, would be "on hiatus" for a month. An insider said, "He was sent to rehab." Armstrong was told to deal with his drinking after he was ejected from the Us Weekly Young Hollywood Hot 20 party.

Our own tipster elaborates this morning:

gary Armstrong got out of alcohol rehab two weeks ago, at the company's expense. At us weekly's young hollywood party two months ago he verbally assualted paris hilton and other famous guests and had to be escorted out of the party by us weekly publisher vicci rose.... the company threw him into rehab after that.

While, generally, we'd never criticize anyone for enjoying his drinkie-drinkie, in this particular case we really fail to see what the problem was. From where we sit, God bless anyone who verbally assaults Paris Hilton.

Earlier: Did Kent Brownridge's Stones Get Rolled?

Did Kent Brownridge's Stones Get Rolled?

Jesse — Thu, 17 Nov 2005 08:59:56 EST

"My nickname for him was Dr. Evil," media commentator Simon Dumenco once said of Wenner Media's Kent Brownridge, "because there is actually an admirably playful edge to his evilness." For 31 years, Brownridge has been Jann Wenner's businessman and hatchet man — the guy who took Jann and Jane's little San Francisco rock magazine and built it into a significant publisher, and the guy who keeps all the Wenner trains running on time, occasionally by firing a conductor or two. "[H]e is the soul — the very moral center — of the magazine business laid bare," Dumenco said in that same interview with the Times. "Other grandees, like Jann, try to disguise their ruthlessness with charm and smoke and mirrors, but Kent, God love him, just lets it hang out."

And now Brownridge is hanging himself out — or even, perhaps, being hung out. Mediaweek broke the news last night — and the Times and Post report today — that Brownridge is leaving the company. He's 65, he faced a cancer scare a few years ago, and both he and Jann both say that this is a voluntarily retirement.

But then there are bits like this, in Mediaweek:

But the parting may be somewhat less than amicable. In recent weeks there has been some discussion within Wenner that the relationship between the two executives had been strained.

Or this, in the Times:

Two people at Wenner Media who declined to speak on the record because it was a personnel matter, said that there had been increasing tension between Jann Wenner, the founder of the company, and Mr. Brownridge.

Which therefore made us not entirely surprised when an email arrived this morning from a trusted source who knows a thing or two about Wenner's inner workings:

Kent brownridge's departure at wenner .
Not a retirement....was booted by jann big time after 30 years

True? Who knows. But we can think of any number of former Wenner employees who'd be thrilled to hear Dr. Evil got the ax.

Kent Brownridge Steps Down From Wenner Media [Mediaweek]
Longtime Manager Plans to Leave Wenner [NYT]
Stone Thrown [NYP]