A Couple of Great Nikki Finke Strands

Here's the first one. And... Because we can never for whatever reason get on-the-record cooperation from PMC, we intentionally did not go to them for comment. If, after reading this item, someone from that end wants to chime in, we'll be happy to update below.* Through the grapevine, we hear that Jay Penske, Mike Fleming Jr. and Nellie Andreeva are actively trying to convince Nikki Finke to return to the Deadline fold. Perhaps this has something to do with the fact that Deadline, minus Finke, now gets traffic-beat by TheWrap. But that's just a guess. The discussions, we're told, are ongoing. Now, on to the second, even juicier bit of Finke business. We say that because this strand involves some rare phone and email contact between Finke and rival Sharon Waxman. After hearing that Waxman allegedly contacted Finke in April to discuss a potential business partnership between TheWrap and nikkifinke.com, we decided to check with Finke. "I can confirm that the phone call took place," Finke told FishbowlNY. "I have no respect for Sharon or her website. I didn't even consider her idea for one second." While Waxman will most certainly not appreciate those harsh words, we admire her for trying. Perhaps this entreaty had something to do with the end of an exclusive four-year content partnership with Reuters, a fact disclosed this week as part of an announcement of Waxman's new syndication service WrapWire. *Update (7:40 p.m.): PMC's director of corporate communications Lauren Gullion has provided FishbowlNY with the following statement: "Contrary to rumors, ever since PMC terminated Ms. Finke's employment in November, it has been Ms. Finke that has pursued the company for reemployment. Furthermore, Deadline.com's editorial focus remains on the business of entertainment and views TheWrap's editorial shift to celebrity news as a further indication of its inability to compete editorially at the trade level." Update (May 17): Finke tells us, in response to the PMC statement above: "Jay Penske's company still isn't telling the truth. But soon the truth will come out."

Fishbowl

A Couple of Great Nikki Finke Strands

Richard Horgan

About

Subscriptions

Events

Publications

WORK SMARTER - LEARN, GROW AND BE INSPIRED.

Subscribe today!

Richard Horgan