Nielsen puts Hollywood, music media in one unit
LOS ANGELES (Reuters) - Nielsen Co. is rolling the Hollywood Reporter, Billboard and its other media publications and conference organizers into a new Entertainment Group, and has put a former Variety chief in charge, the company said on Wednesday.
The move comes about a week after rival Reed-Elsevier said it would put up for sale its own business publishing unit, which includes show business paper Daily Variety, Publishers Weekly and others.
Nielsen said the move would let it better cover trends across the entertainment industry, which is becoming less segmented by product. Previously, Nielsen's entertainment properties existed under two separate market groups, Film & Performing Arts and Music & Literary.
Hollywood Reporter Publisher John Kilcullen will leave the company while former Variety publisher and media and marketing consultant Gerry Byrne will run the new Entertainment Group starting March 1, privately held Nielsen Co. said in a statement.
Assets in the new division include Billboard, The Hollywood Reporter, Back Stage, Kirkus Reviews, The Bookseller, Film Journal International, and the film industry expositions ShoWest, ShowEast, Cinema Expo International and CineAsia Exposition.
Reuters Group Plc and Nielsen have a joint entertainment news service.
(Reporting by Paul Thomasch and Peter Henderson, editing by Richard Chang)
