Nikki Finke Talks to The Wall Street Journal

On page B1 of today's Wall Street Journal, there it is. That rare entity known as an extensive on-the-record Nikki Finke interview. Finke emails and phones reporters all the time, but it's usually always off-the-record. So kudos to Ben Fritz for being the one holding the scoop this time around. In this particular case however, there was a minor glitch. Within a few hours of the online version being posted, Finke was objecting via the comments to the sub-headline 'Founder of Website Deadline.com Says Vision Is No Longer Shared': That sub-head is unsupported by my quote published in the article: "The issue is whether this shared vision is still intact," Ms. Finke said in an interview this week." The WSJ needs to correct this sub-head immediately. [Editor's note: The WSJ did correct immediately to 'Founder of Website Deadline.com Questions Whether Vision Is Still Shared'] Finke tells Fritz that if a logical PMC solution cannot be amicably reached, she would like, with the help of a backer, to buy back control of deadline.com. And if that cannot be arranged, then she envisions launching a slightly different kind of Web enterprise at nikkifinke.com: "Jay Penske shared my vision of what Deadline could be, [but] now circumstances have changed with the addition of Variety and the issue is whether this shared vision is still intact," Ms. Finke said in an interview this week. "One of the most noble things Jay Penske could ever do would be to give me back Deadline." Finke's contract with PMC runs through 2016, but she says she is looking to get out of it now. A PMC spokesperson gave Fritz a couple of boiler plate quotes, including one that states the company's intent to work with Finke for the contractual duration. For the record, the WSJ online article headline reads "Nikki Finke Seeks to Break from Penske Media," while the print edition prefers "'Nikki' vs. Penske Brings Hollywood A Heated Drama." Read Fritz's report here.

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Nikki Finke Talks to The Wall Street Journal

Richard Horgan

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Richard Horgan