Penthouse publisher files for Chapter 11 protection from creditors

Wednesday, August 13th 2003, 12:00 am

By: News On 6

NEW YORK (AP) _ The publisher of Penthouse magazine filed for Chapter 11 protection from its creditors but will continue producing the racy monthly while seeking other ways to profit from its brand name, a lawyer said Wednesday.

Options might include licensing the Penthouse name for adult videos, gentlemen's clubs and online sites, said Robert Feinstein, lawyer for General Media.

General Media made the filing Tuesday in bankruptcy court in New York.

Feinstein said no major changes were planned at the magazine, which was always raunchier than rival Playboy but alienated advertisers in recent years by publishing what was perceived as pornography, analysts say. Penthouse also suffered as pornography became more available on the Internet.

Circulation plummeted from nearly 1 million in 1998 to 565,700 last year, according to the Audit Bureau of Circulations. Playboy remained steady at about 3.2 million and non-pornographic men's magazines such as Maxim soared during the period.