Lynne Segall Dumps Jay Penske, Nikki Finke for Hollywood Reporter (Updated)

Industry vet returns to trade where she worked for decades, leaves Penske after less than a year

Lynne Segall has left Jay Penske's Mail.com Media Corporation to return to the Hollywood Reporter, where she was previously associate publisher, the trade announced on Tuesday. 

She will report to CEO Richard Beckman.

Under Segall, Mail's Deadline.com published numerous print publications. But Segall, who joined Penske's company less than a year ago, also found herself working in tandem with Deadline's flame-throwing Nikki Finke. Segall frequently had to calm tempers around town in that job.

Thus the allure of the Hollywood Reporter — which last year converted its print product to a glossy weekly format and has focused on a consumer strategy – makes some sense.

Updated: True to form, Finke attacked Segall on Tuesday, saying she had broken the ethical wall between advertising and editorial, and made the editor's diabetes worse. In an interview with TheWrap, Segall denied the allegation.

Read also: Jilted! Nikki Finke Blasts Lynne Segall as She Exits for THR

Segall's appointment suggests that the Reporter, which needs a huge amount of revenue to support the ambitious and costly weekly, will turn its attention back to advertising inside the entertainment industry. 

It is unclear what will happen to Lori Burgess, who has previously been the trade's publisher.  

Update: Burgess was previously the publisher and her status is undecided, according to Segall, who said she believed Burgess was being offered another position based in New York.

The shift further suggests an orientation toward the traditional sources of advertising for THR, within the entertainment industry, and away from the consumer strategy previously articulated by Beckman.

In the announcement on Tuesday, he said of Segall: “With her understanding of this brand, the Hollywood community, and her track record of achievement in publishing, online, and events there is no one stronger to lead the business side of The Hollywood Reporter on all of our growing platforms.”

That contrasted with Beckman's praise for Burgess a year ago, when he noted that her “entertainment and luxury marketing experience, make her the perfect person to helm The Hollywood Reporter.”

But in an interview Segall told TheWrap she intended to focus on consumer advertising too. "It’s a magazine that is viable for non endemic categories," she said.

The move is the latest in an ongoing game of musical chairs in the world of entertainment media. Segall is among many figures who spent decades at the trades and became part of a huge dislocation in the past few years. 

Others like her have found themselves at start-ups, digital outlets and now — in Segall's case — back again at the trade.

The loss of Segall presents a major challenge to Penske's suite of sites: Deadline, TVline and Movieline. It is not clear who will replace her; few in the industry have Segall's clout when it comes to movie and TV advertising for an industry readership.

But it places Segall back in print publishing, where she spent most of her career. Before Deadline, she ran entertainment advertising at the Los Angeles Times, and she spent two decades at the Reporter as vice president and associate publisher.

According to the trade, Segall will be responsible for leading the development and execution of advertising sales and business development strategiesas well as marketing initiatives on all platforms for the brand’s weekly magazine, growing website, and digital offerings.

Segall returns to the Reporter having spent two decades there as VP & associate publisher establishing its highly successful awards franchise. She led the creation of more than 100 special issues and custom published sections and the popular Women in Entertainment Power 100 breakfast.

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