Variety to Add Digital Subscription Content Tier

By Claudia Eller

LOS ANGELES (Variety.com) – We have some very exciting company news to share with our readers.

Variety has grown significantly over the past five years after making the dramatic shift of exiting the daily print business and converting to a weekly publication. Change has been constant ever since, from the redesign of this magazine and our website to the great breadth of original video and podcast content we’ve added.

Well, we’re not about to stop expanding now: We’re happy to announce that we are launching a new digital subscription layer to our website in 2019 that will give readers the ability to dig deeper into research, data and information that can help them do business in our rapidly changing industry.

Make no mistake: This is in no way a return to Variety’s previous paywall strategy. Everything the publication currently produces that is freely available at Variety.com will stay that way. What we’re looking to do next is supplement what our growing audience is already getting from the website and magazine.

This will be a major undertaking for Variety, one that we believe we can execute most effectively by separately managing the growing portfolio of products under the Variety banner. All news operations for both the magazine and the website, across every discipline we cover, including film, television, technology, digital, video games and music, will now report to Claudia. Andy will shift his focus to launching the subscription offering with a new, dedicated team while also managing Variety’s video strategy and production, as well as the annual Variety500 initiative and other digital effects.

We will continue as co-editors-in-chief collaborating across our respective areas. The timing is right for this expansion, as the publishing business is seeing increasing willingness from readers to subscribe to high-value content. Variety parent company Penske Media Corporation had the early vision to experiment with digital subscription technology with other brands, which gives us a leg up as we go to market with the new offering.

Variety has a well-earned reputation for providing outstanding thought leadership on all aspects of the media world. With today’s announcement, we’re doubling down on that; we invite you to come along for the ride.