• Los Angeles Lakers owner Jerry Buss (C) is surrounded by Penthouse Pets at the 30th anniversary party of the publication at Barfly's in Hollywood June 2, 1999. (photo by Chris Martinez) Photo: Chris Martinez, Getty Images / Hulton Archive
Photo: Chris Martinez, Getty Images
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February 2015 Penthouse Pet of the Month Kenna James (L) poses with Lance Angeles of Nevada in front of a green screen at the Penthouse Fan Fare Photo Booth to have a personalized Penthouse cover photo taken at the 2015 AVN Adult Entertainment Expo at the Hard Rock Hotel & Casino on January 22, 2015 in Las Vegas, Nevada.
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Los Angeles Lakers owner Jerry Buss (C) is surrounded by Penthouse Pets at the 30th anniversary party of the publication at Barfly's in Hollywood June 2, 1999. (photo by Chris Martinez)
After 50 years Penthouse magazine is ending its print publication, opting to focus on its web and mobile products.
The move comes just months after its primary print competitor, Playboy, decided to halt nudity in its print product to compete with other mainstream publications.
As Playboy reasoned at the time, female nudity can be found on the Internet for free.
Penthouse’s publisher told the Wall Street Journal that this is the way of the future, in not so many words.
“Reimagined for the preferred consumption of content today by consumers, the digital version of Penthouse Magazine will combine and convert everything readers know and love about the print magazine experience to the power of a digital experience,” publisher FriendFinder Network said in a statement.
That company bought Penthouse in 2004 but for the past decade and change it's struggled to find an identity in a world with plentiful adult entertainment online. The magazine hasn't been profitable since 2008.
Penthouse's office will move from a New York outpost and relocate to FriendFinder's Los Angeles offices.
Penthouse was always the more salacious competitor of Playboy, prone to show actual sex acts in its page whereas Playboy did not
.