American Media, Inc., the publisher for National Inquirer and Star Magazine has filed bankruptcy. When the tabloids are going down, you know it is getting ugly out there. 

What sells in practically any market? How about sex, booze and entertainment? Alas, American Media, Inc., is deep into two out of the three. It publishes the National Inquirer and Star magazine, the two bawdy tabloid magazines. What fewer people know is it also runs much of Playboy magazine as well. 

Whatever its holdings, American Media, Inc., has joined a number of large entertainment companies heading over to the bankruptcy courts. The company is actually set up as two different entities. One is reported to have $50,000 in assets and a billion dollars in debt, while the other is believed to have roughly $100 million in assets and a billion in debts. Like we said, sex and scandals sells!

So, have we seen the last of the National Inquirer, Star or Playboy? Are you kidding?! No, the company has headed into Chapter 11 bankruptcy. They will try to come up with a plan that allows them to slash debt and get into better financial shape. If they can’t come up with ones the creditors will accept, the matter will turn into a liquidation. At that point, the magazines would be auctioned off and you can be there would be a lot of interested parties. 

Predicting what will ultimately happen with this case is a tough one. Magazines and periodicals have been having a very tough time in the new digital age. While the company has some strong assets, a couple billion dollars in debt is nothing to sneeze at. Bookmark our news page to see how this plays out in the future. It should be very interesting.