Playboy said it has tested the price increase in half of its U.S. retail outlets and is encouraged by the results.
The company also will cut its rate base — the circulation figure upon which it bases its advertising rates — down 4.7 percent, to 3 million.
In the filing, Playboy said the rate-base adjustment reflects the continuing industry-wide decline of newsstand sales, which makes it difficult to predict circulation.
The company also noted the effect of significant increases in paper and postage costs as well as weak advertising revenue in the magazine’s target demographic of young males.
The conservative rate base, Playboy said, offers a stronger business model. The idea, apparently, is to under-promise and over-deliver on what the magazine can offer advertisers in terms of a return on their investment.
Elsewhere in the filing, Playboy said it has signed an agreement with Comcast for distribution of its movies on Comcast's video-on-demand platforms and of Playboy TV as a subscription video-on-demand service. The company expects the roll out to begin in the fourth quarter ending Dec. 31, the filing said.
Playboy Enterprises didn't disclose the financial terms of the agreement nor any additional details in the SEC filing.
