while hustler has been nickle & diming this industry, penthouses new owners are showing themselves to be true professionals.



Media Billing, L.L.C., a 99%-owned subsidiary of Penthouse International, Inc., has purchased all of the outstanding member interests of iBill for $0.7 million in cash, a $0.8 million short-term note, and assumption of a $22.0 million working capital deficit.


So does that mean that the penthouse/ibill portfolio is significantly more important than the hustler/jetbull portfolio???

I'm lost on these matters. Can anybody shed some light?

Will any additional moves be made by penthouse that will shake up the industry?

do you have a link or anything?

http://www.forbes.com/technology/2004/03/2...322galanis.html

probably not a good idea to give 'em any shit if they tell you where you should cut grass...

I'm curious why you say Hustler has been "nickel and diming the industry" to date and why the comparison to Penthouse here? What's the deal, cause I am obviously missing something here.

Hoop it seems you already have made up your mind on this issue.

I personally hope that Penthouse can make a good name for itself in this industry. I also hope that they can turn IBill around and make it into a solid processor. This industry needs both of these.

However, just from my brief understanding of things, Penthouse is just coming out of bankrupcy. Penhouse has not accomplished anything online, nor has it contracted with a proven player like Ken. IBill is one of, if not THE worst regarded processor in the industry and has been passed around like a bag of shit no one wants.

Penthouse a company just coming out of bankrupcy taking on 22 million defecit ( debt?) before making a dime online seems like suicide to me.

It will make for interesting times, and I will truly be pulling for them!!

I remember years ago speaking with a VP of Penthouse over there sites, Mark I think his name was.

I'm talking maybe '98.

I think it should be interesting , perhaps this is a part of a real attempt to come into online and mean it.

They have a great brand name, and tons of quality content - if managed right I would think they could do a great job.

Penthouse publishing division is in bankruptcy... I dont think the financial division is, I could be wrong.

More intersting to me is this Pay by Touch company.

Enforcer, I don't quite get that one either.

Cleo, the first foray onto having an affil program by Penthouse their affiliate stats was only a blank page with a single dropdown by date and day, couldn't see the whole month, no history, nada. I think they also had two horizontal banners as their entire promo tools lineup.

Now this was around '99 or '00, when nearly every program had stats by site, by referral link, by history, and odd banners, FPAs and the whole shabang. It literally made Serge's '97 stats look advanced! (And that's not even a joke or a hyperbole.)

Mike, how might Penthouse's content branding help them out with processing? I haven't had my second cup of Joe yet, so maybe I'm not seeing where these dots connect.

KK, correct, only the publishing subsidiary is in bankruptcy. And yes, the PBT tech looks very interesting. Can USB peripherals be far behind?



Last edited by Dravyk at Mar 23 2004, 02:02 PM

Glad I'm not the only one. :P

I agree MikeAI, I hope they work it out. IMO, they do need to hook up with someone who knows what they are doing in the online arena, or they're as good as 6 feet under.

It'll be very interesting to see how things turn out.

They couldnt keep the magazine alive , what makes you think they will do better now? I have nothing against them , always liked PH, but to start prety much from scratch now is not too realistic :rolleyes:

The Net killed the Magazine..... Everyone's magazine numbers are way down. Playboy, Huslter, as well as mainstream....

Amber is right, they need someone who has experience in the industry or they will be toast.

starting from scratch?! huh!?

they have years and years and years of editorial content, stories, photos etc - 10 times the quality and quantity that can be obtained from most of us smut peddlers ... do you know how many different niches of website you could do with that content? for men AND women, every age group, every sexual interest, couples (a huge market most of us ignore) etc ...

i think we are almost full loop in the cycle with the cc issues starting to settle and 'content is king' will be the next motto for 2004 just like 96-98.

someone like Penthouse most likely won't have the same trouble with cc processing & visa as we do because of ... lets hear it ... BRANDING! If Mr Penthouse plays golf with Mr Visa i'm sure 1% chargebacks won't be a problem! :biglaugh:

so the way i see it, penthouse is nicely positioned to jump in and do what few of us have been able to acomplish - an internet porn business that is accepted in the mainstream world.

every time purve has been in a newspaper, on tv or radio we have a decent influx of sales (& most importantly, free for us!) - back in 98 the ny times article generated about 60 signups, the E! shows do about 15 - 20 on every replay (at least 10-15 replays), articles on the big newspaper websites will do about 50 sales also ...

Imagine if you had a name like penthouse and didn't actually have to try to get publicity?! Just opening a website will guarantee you publicity in 50 publications throughout the world!

it comes down to 1 thing, are the current directors of penthouse capable of pulling together their tools in the right order?

starting from scratch?! huh!?

they have years and years and years of editorial content, stories, photos etc - 10 times the quality and quantity that can be obtained from most of us smut peddlers ... do you know how many different niches of website you could do with that content? for men AND women, every age group, every sexual interest, couples (a huge market most of us ignore) etc ...

i think we are almost full loop in the cycle with the cc issues starting to settle and 'content is king' will be the next motto for 2004 just like 96-98.

someone like Penthouse most likely won't have the same trouble with cc processing & visa as we do because of ... lets hear it ... BRANDING! If Mr Penthouse plays golf with Mr Visa i'm sure 1% chargebacks won't be a problem! :biglaugh:

so the way i see it, penthouse is nicely positioned to jump in and do what few of us have been able to acomplish - an internet porn business that is accepted in the mainstream world.

every time purve has been in a newspaper, on tv or radio we have a decent influx of sales (& most importantly, free for us!) - back in 98 the ny times article generated about 60 signups, the E! shows do about 15 - 20 on every replay (at least 10-15 replays), articles on the big newspaper websites will do about 50 sales also ...

Imagine if you had a name like penthouse and didn't actually have to try to get publicity?! Just opening a website will guarantee you publicity in 50 publications throughout the world!

it comes down to 1 thing, are the current directors of penthouse capable of pulling together their tools in the right order?[/b][/quote]
Somebody scared up a topic for tonight! hahaahaha

Oh...add in some more processing shit as well to the pile.

Guess which processor is STILL processing KP sites?

Ill tell you and how I know tonight at 9pm as well!

penthouse was bought by a german company. it's not the same people who were running it before.

I know Penthouse.com was in negotiation with some very large names in this biz to run a program just over a year ago. Things fell through on multiple fronts and I think Penthouse decided to go at it on it's own.

This is right after Lensman announced his Playboy.com affiliation.

i icq'd this person to see if they want to come talk about their involvement. i wish they were still involved, it would make me more confident they could achieve their goals.

Hi folks, i'm really a lurker here at Oprano, but I thought I could add to this discussion.

There are really two companies, General Media and Penthouse International in the mix here and there is some confusion here as to who is doing what. General Media is the bankrupt one, whereas Penthouse International is very solvent. Its a little confusing but in a nutshell, a while ago Penthouse broke their company into parts with the PHI company owning the Penthouse brand, and General Media licensing that brand from PHI to publish. It is true that General Media is having all kinds of financial problems, but dont let that make you believe that PHI are also broke dicks. Far from it in fact, they have the financial backing and also have very lucrative licensing deals from everything from casinos, strip club,resorts, clothing, international editions of the magazines and videos. With the limited cash that PHI was made to put up for this deal, they made out pretty good considering iBill is cash flow positive. The debt assumed I believe was monies owed for the original purchase of 120 or 130 something million. The original owners of iBill (go Albe!) made out like champs in that original deal. The real loser here is Intercept, who overpaid for a company whose primary revenue stream they were unprepared to go forward with.

You are misinformed as to the Internet division of General Media. The Internet Division was GM's shining star, and the financial papers filed with the SEC lists them grossing about 500-650k a month. Thats a pretty outstanding number considering they do not have a real affiliate program. I myself was a bit skeptical of those numbers but while General Media was for sale recently, in the due diligence towards making an offer on this company, I was able to see additional documentation of this SEC 10k listed revenue. Believe it, they have good revenue monthly in their internet division.

Whether you love iBill or hate them, anyone who has a significant role in the adult internet market has a vested interest in seeing all of the processors remain in business, not only for the stability but also the competition factor they bring.

And my question is still left unanswered.....

thanks for the explanation scoreman!

where do you fit into the penthouse picture?

make or break for ph online will be their management of affiliates ... they need a good affiliate manager :okthumb: it seems they have processing & content well and truly taken care of!

Can't answer why he said "nickel and diming", but as for the comparison...

Hustler and Penthouse have always been head-to-head in the offline world. (Playboy was a "higher class" of magazine, more soft than those two.)

Penthouse just bought Ibill.
Hustler bought Jetbill.

So now we have 2 long-time competitors both in the online market, both with sites, and both with processing in their corner.

At least, that's my understanding, I could be 100% wrong.

CJ, I am not affiliated with Penthouse. Our offer to Penthouse was usurped by Mark Bell, a Florida internet guy, whose LLC came in and bought up about 90% of the bonds (senior secured debt at General Media). At that point they effectively controlled General Media. I run the internet division for The SCORE Group (www.scoregroup.com and www.score-cash.com).

Can't answer why he said "nickel and diming", but as for the comparison...

Hustler and Penthouse have always been head-to-head in the offline world. (Playboy was a "higher class" of magazine, more soft than those two.)

Penthouse just bought Ibill.
Hustler bought Jetbill.

So now we have 2 long-time competitors both in the online market, both with sites, and both with processing in their corner.

At least, that's my understanding, I could be 100% wrong.[/b][/quote]
That's really what intruiges me cause I don't understand what he means by nickel and diming the industry and what Penthouse did in comparison to Hustler that makes them so much more professional.

Interesting post Scoreman. Thanks for info.

Carrie, when did Hustler buy Jetbill ( Jettis) ?

Hustler did not by Jettis, Jetbill or Jetbull (thanks Hooper). We're privately held by multiple shareholders.

jetbull, lol didnt notice that. u and i are next to eachother on the keyboard. sorry bout that. from what i can tell jetbill is a perfectly good processor.

Hate typos!!

And it gets ignored yet again....

I know :rolleyes:

TE, did you say something? :D

TE, did you say something? :D[/b][/quote]
I guess not! :P

I guess not! :P[/b][/quote]
Wait!

What was that?

...

Eh, probably just the wind.

:nyanya:

I guess not! :P[/b][/quote]
One should assume that either everything or nothing gets overlooked if you ever consider the possibility of taking anything on a messageboard seriously.

One should assume that either everything or nothing gets overlooked if you ever consider the possibility of taking anything on a messageboard seriously.[/b][/quote]
Sigh.. I know I should know better but.....

Sometimes the answer not given speaks volumes more. :rolleyes:

I reccomended they contact Ken ASAP
;-))))

hmmmm..are you sure about that???

Were the publically traded company???

I never knew that, IF it's true, and if it is NOT, as I suspect,
why, WHY would they file anything with SEC????

please explain....

I agree with David -- more processors is always better for site owners. You have choices and the processors have to compete, either on price, service, or value adds.

If you get to the point that there is no one left to compete then you are at the mercy of the giant.

This isn't something new out of my mouth, I've said it for years.