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The Hollywood Reporter
The October 9, 2015 cover page
EditorJanice Min
CategoriesEntertainment
FrequencyWeekly
FormatTabloid[1]
PublisherLynne Segall
Total circulation74,000 weekly print readers
14.7 million unique monthly visitors[1]
FounderBilly Wilkerson
Founded1930
First issueSeptember 3, 1930
CompanyPrometheus Global Media
CountryUnited States
Based inLos Angeles, California
LanguageEnglish
Websitewww.hollywoodreporter.com

The Hollywood Reporter (THR) is an American media brand focused on the entertainment industry. It publishes breaking news stories online each day and a glossy tabloid magazine every week. Topics it reports on include the business of Hollywood, including agencies, studios and TV networks, awards such as the Oscars and Emmys, film reviews, box office numbers, lifestyle, celebrities and film reviews. It was founded as a daily trade paper for the movie industry in 1930 and was re-worked as a glossy weekly with more of a consumer focus in 2010. It also hosts several dozen parties a year around award shows or other events.

The Hollywood Reporter was founded by Billy Wilkerson, then inherited by his wife upon his death in 1962. Along with its main rival at the time, Variety, it became one of the two primary trade publications for the entertainment industry. It was sold to Billboard Publications Inc. in 1988, which was then sold to Nielsen (then called VNU) in 1994. Prometheus Global Media (then called e5 Global Media Holdings) acquired it in 2009 amid declining readership and advertising revenues. Prometheus appointed a new editor, Janice Min, who overhauled the publication, leading to a turnaround. In 2015, Prometheus was re-structured, creating a separate company, The Hollywood Reporter-Billboard Media Group, which now owns The Hollywood Reporter.

History

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Origins

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The cover page of the first issue

The Hollywood Reporter was founded in 1930 by Billy Wilkerson,[2] after his barbershop business went bankrupt.[3] It was the first daily trade newspaper in Hollywood for the movie industry[2] and it competed with the more established, New York-based paper, Variety.[4][5] The Hollywood Reporter covered production projects, revenue, industry trends and gossip.[6] Its influential columns included Wilkenson's "Tradeviews" column,[4] his wife's gossip column called "The Rambling Reporter"[2] and a gay gossip column authored by Mike Connolly from 1951 to 1966.[7]

The magazine published mostly negative film reviews and wrote critical opinion pieces.[2] According to The Complete History of American Film Criticism, the early Hollywood Reporter published the most salacious stories that Wilkerson could verify on movie industry executives and celebrities.[4] According to The Man Who Seduced Hollywood, the publication "[exposed] corrupt studio practices."[6] The magazine developed a confrontational relationship with the film industry interests it reported on.[2] Some studios barred Hollywood Reporter journalists from the premises and the head of Fox Studios set fire to copies that were delivered to employees.[2]

Within two years it was one of the most influential trade publications for the movie industry.[4][6] Studios eventually started paying for large advertising placements at the paper in hopes of more favorable coverage and in response to threats from Wilkerson to write negative articles about those that didn't advertise enough.[6] According to The New York Times, the entertainment trade press have long relied on trading positive press coverage for advertising dollars.[8] The publication did well financially. Wilkerson spent the profits on gambling[6] and investing in night clubs and hotels in Las Vegas.[4] Wilkerson also used the paper to accuse industry interests, such as the Screen Writers Guild, of communist affiliations.[9]

Development and ownership changes

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The Hollywood Reporter in the 1950s, 1980s and 1990s from left-to-right respectively.

The founder, Billy Wilkerson, died of a heart attack in 1962 and his wife, Tichi Wilkerson, took over.[4][5] According to Tichi, Billy taught her how to run the business before he passed, but they disagreed about the importance of television. Tichi focused more of the publication's coverage on the TV industry.[10] She also hired staff in Europe, Asia, New York, Las Vegas, San Francisco, Paris and Tokyo.[10][11] She created the first digital version of the paper in 1988. According to The Los Angeles Times, Tichi had a "sometimes impulsive management style [that] brought mixed results."[11] Tichi was known for hiring inexperienced editors and firing employees promptly. She changed her managing editor seven times over eight years. She also marketed the paper more aggressively and its circulation expanded substantially during her tenure.[11][12] As of 1988, The Hollywood Reporter was publishing 70 special issues a year and produced the Studio Blu-Book Directory of movie industry vendors. It also began a weekly TV show called "Hollywood Reporter Executive Report."[13]

According to The Wall Street Journal, by 1988 The Hollywood Reporter and its closest competitor, Variety, were each distributed to about 22,000 people daily, however Variety had a "stronger reputation for thoroughness and independence in Hollywood." In part to get more resources to better compete with Variety,[14] Tichi sold The Hollywood Reporter and Hollywood Reporter Inc. in 1988 to Billboard Publications Inc., a subsidiary of Affiliated Publications.[14] Terms of the deal were not disclosed at the time, but it was later reported in The New York Times to have been for $26.7 million.[5][15][13] Tichi stayed on after the acquisition as the publisher and editor-in-chief,[13] until she was replaced by Robert J. Dowling.[16] According to The Chicago Tribune, by 1994 The Hollywood Reporter was still seen as the second-place industry trade behind Variety, but it had been "gaining influence in recent years." Variety was laying off staff while The Hollywood Reporter was hiring. The Hollywood Reporter had a daily circulation of 21,817 to Variety's 24,029, but The Hollywood Reporter's international issue was growing, while Variety's was shrinking.[17] The Los Angeles Times said it had become a "formidable rival" to Variety.[16]

In 1994, Hollywood Reporter's parent company, Billboard Publications Inc., was sold to a Dutch media conglomerate, Verenigde Nederlandse Uitgeverijen (VNU), for $220 million. The Hollywood Reporter was one of 17 magazines VNU acquired in the deal.[18][a] VNU then changed its name to Nielsen in 2007, the namesake of a company it acquired for $2.5 billion in 1999.[19][20] Nielsen owned The Hollywood Reporter until 2009, when it was one of eight publications sold to e5 Global Media Holdings. e5 was formed by investment firms Pluribus Capital Management and Guggenheim Partners for the purpose of the acquisition.[21][22] The following year, the new parent company was renamed to Prometheus Global Media.[23] Three years later, Guggenheim Partners acquired Pluribus' share of Prometheus and became the sole owner of The Hollywood Reporter.[24]

In December 2015 Guggenheim Digital Media sold several media brands, including The Hollywood Reporter, to its own executive, Todd Boehly. He formed The Hollywood Reporter-Billboard Media Group, which now owns The Hollywood Reporter and others news interests.[25]

Disputes

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In May 2001, The Hollywood Reporter's publisher publicly rebuked one of its reporters, Anita Busch, after she wrote a story about one of its columnists, George Christy. The article was about an investigation by the Screen Actor's Guild into whether the columnist was trading press coverage about movie studios for being mentioned in film credits, in order to qualify for the Guild's health and benefits plan.[26] Three employees resigned in response to the publisher's refusal to print the reporter's story.[26]

The publisher at-the-time, Robert Dowling, had previously been criticized for influencing editorial in order to defend the paper's business interests.[16] Dowling said the reporter had lost perspective on the story and had a "personal agenda" against the columnist.[27] He published another version of the story, written by different reporters.[26] Later that month, The Hollywood Reporter suspended the column, while it conducted its own investigation.[27] The columnist had been investigated in 1993 and 1998 for similar conduct, which resulted in a settlement and fines respectively.[27] The internal investigation also looked at whether he was accepting gifts, free office space, and other perks after mentioning a movie studio in his column.[27] Officially, the columnist resigned several months later.[28]

In 2011, Deadline.com, a property of Penske Media Corporation, sued The Hollywood Reporter for more than $5 million, alleging it copied their website's stories and source code. In 2013, The Hollywood Reporter's parent company settled the suit. According to The Wall Street Journal, "The lawsuit [was] widely viewed in Hollywood as a proxy for the bitter war for readers and advertising dollars." The case was settled for $162,500 in 2013. Prometheus and The Hollywood Reporter admitted to taking source code from the website and issued an apology.[29][30]

Decline and rebound

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By 2005, The Hollywood Reporter had a daily circulation of 28,377 and a circulation of 41,075 for the weekly edition.[16] Amid a decline in the publishing industry, the editor-in-chief and publisher, Robert J. Dowling (then 66), resigned.[16] The Hollywood Reporter and its rival Variety both laid off staff in response to declining advertising spending and competition from blogs.[8][22] The Hollywood Reporter also went through a series of management changes,[31] had become too friendly to the celebrities it covers and was losing readers to Variety.[32][33] 60 percent of the publication's staff were let go over five rounds of layoffs from 2005 to 2010. The Hollywood Reporter lost 45 percent of its circulation from September 2006 to 2008.[34] According to The Daily Beast, The Hollywood Reporter was "in a death spiral".[35]

Janice Min

Prometheus gave the paper new funding after the acquisition, to increase its editing and sales staff. It appointed a new editor, Janice Min, who was known for her work at Us Weekly.[36] The daily newspaper was changed to an online PDF[8] and the paper was re-launched as a weekly, glossy magazine. The website was re-designed[36] and the editorial was changed. The paper's new content is intended for both the entertainment industry and general consumers.[37] It began selling advertising to consumer companies in segments like beauty, fashion, electronics and liquor, rather than exclusively to companies in the entertainment industry.[8] Min focused the publication's editorial on in-depth feature stories and visuals,[38] whereas before much of the content was quick blurbs that were re-written from a press release.[13][32][33] New art and photography departments were also created.[13]

According to The New York Times, The Hollywood Reporter use to host two parties a year. By 2012, the publication was hosting 13 events a year.[36]The New York Times compared The Hollywood Reporter's new parties to those run by Vanity Fair, who has long been known for its parties around the Oscars.[39] The Hollywood Reporter also began a series of award season roundtable discussions that became a TV show on PBS.[40]

After the publication's re-launch, Ad sales rose 50 percent and website traffic increased 800 percent.[36] In 2015, The Hollywood Reporter won its first ever award at the National Magazine Awards, for general excellence in the special interest category.[41]

Recent history

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In 2013, The Hollywood Reporter investigated the American Humane Association (AHA), which regulates the "no animals were harmed" claim added to movies. The reporter, Gary Baum, alleged the organization was ignoring animal injuries and deaths that took place off-camera or by accident, in order to support corporate backers. The AHA opposed some of the accusations, though it also replaced some animal monitors with veterinarians and established a new policy requiring independent investigations of animal deaths.[42][43]

News publishing

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The Hollywood Reporter covers the entertainment industry, including subjects like box office numbers, controversies, fashion and personal celebrity news.[13][32] The publication's media kit says its reporting includes interviews and profiles, roundtable discussions, rankings of powerful people, coverage of the Oscar and Emmy awards, and film festivals.[1] It publishes breaking news stories online throughout the week, using a mix of articles written by its own reporters and those that come from wire services.[44] The print issue is focused on in-depth feature stories and photo galleries.[13][32][33] The publication is "nicer" to celebrities than it use to be. Movie stars are often hired for new roles just after being on the cover. Movie stars cooperate for interviews and photoshoots, seeing placement in the paper as promotion.[32] 50 print issues are published each year and distributed to 74,000 people each.[1] Stories that are included in the weekly print version are uploaded online every Wednesday.[44]

The Hollywood Reporter's regular features include:[1]

  • The Report: summarizes the week's news
  • About Town: reports on parties, film festivals, fundraisers and other events
  • The Business: covers entertainment industry executives, box office numbers and other topics
  • Backlot: includes awards, milestones and anniversaries
  • Hollywood Style: is about fashion, beauty, jewelry, real-estate and other topics

THR.com covers similar topics, such as movies, television, music, fashion, awards and the entertainment industry.[1] Some of its reporting is done in a blog format. It also distributes content via newsletter subscriptions. A PDF-format daily paper, the fashion channel(Pret-a-Reporter), seasonal newsletters and others are distributed via newsletter.[1]

It maintains a regular list of new or upcoming films and their place in the production process.[45] The Hollywood Reporter publishes an annual list of the most powerful women in the industry.[46] The publication hosts or sponsors parties around awards and other events, with celebrity guests.[36] As of 2015, it hosts 13 events.[1]

References

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  1. ^ a b c d e f g h "Media Kit" (PDF). The Hollywood Reporter.
  2. ^ a b c d e f Barbas, S. (2005). The First Lady of Hollywood: A Biography of Louella Parsons. University of California Press. p. 180. ISBN 978-0-520-24213-5. Retrieved October 9, 2015. Cite error: The named reference "Barbas 2005 p. 180" was defined multiple times with different content (see the help page).
  3. ^ Williams, G.P. (2005). The Story of Hollywood: An Illustrated History. BL Press. p. 185. ISBN 978-0-9776299-0-9. Retrieved October 9, 2015.
  4. ^ a b c d e f Roberts, J. (2010). The Complete History of American Film Criticism. Santa Monica Press. p. 53. ISBN 978-1-59580-922-3. Retrieved September 29, 2015.
  5. ^ a b c Monaco, J. (1999). The Dictionary of New Media: The New Digital World: Video, Audio, Print : Film, Television, DVD, Home Theatre, Satellite, Digital Photography, Wireless, Super CD, Internet. Harbor Electronic Pub. p. 131. ISBN 978-0-9669744-0-9. Retrieved October 9, 2015.
  6. ^ a b c d e Gladstone, B.J.; Wagner, R. (2013). The Man Who Seduced Hollywood: The Life and Loves of Greg Bautzer, Tinseltown's Most Powerful Lawyer. CHICAGO REVIEW Press. p. 37. ISBN 978-1-61374-579-3. Retrieved October 9, 2015.
  7. ^ Holley, V. (2003). Mike Connolly and the Manly Art of Hollywood Gossip. McFarland. p. 30. ISBN 978-0-7864-8086-9. Retrieved October 9, 2015.
  8. ^ a b c d Barnes, Brooks; Peters, Jeremy W. (September 13, 2010). "Hollywood Reporter to Become a Weekly Magazine". The New York Times. Retrieved October 11, 2015.
  9. ^ Holley, Val (2007). Mike Connolly and the Manly Art of Hollywood Gossip. Jefferson, N.C.: McFarland. ISBN 978-0-7864-1552-6.
  10. ^ a b "Beautiful Tichi Wilkerson is Power in Film Capital". Reading Eagle. August 16, 1965. Retrieved October 15, 2015.
  11. ^ a b c Rourke, Mary (March 11, 2004). "Obituaries; Tichi Kassel, 77; Editor of Trade Paper, Founder of Women in Film". Los Angeles Times. p. B.12.
  12. ^ "Tichi Wilkerson Kassel, 77, Hollywood Journalist". The New York Times. March 12, 2004. Retrieved October 15, 2015.
  13. ^ a b c d e f g Harris, Kathryn; Knoedelseder, William (January 26, 1988). "Billboard's Parent to Buy Hollywood Reporter". Los Angeles Times. p. F2.
  14. ^ a b Bulkeley, William; Akst, Daniel (January 26, 1988). "Affiliated Publications' Billboard Unit Agrees to Acquire Hollywood Reporter". Wall Street Journal.
  15. ^ Anderson, A. Donald; based, A. Donald Anderson is a writer (August 7, 1988). "Hollywood's Version of Trade Wars". The New York Times. Retrieved October 11, 2015.
  16. ^ a b c d e Hoffman, Claire (December 7, 2005). "Hollywood Reporter's Chief Resigns". Los Angeles Times. Retrieved October 15, 2015.
  17. ^ a b "Dutch Firm To Purchase Billboard, Film Magazine". Chicago Tribune. January 17, 1994. Retrieved October 10, 2015.
  18. ^ "Dutch Buyer Acquires BPI". The New York Times. January 15, 1994. Retrieved October 10, 2015.
  19. ^ "VNU to Buy Nielsen Media In Deal Valued at $2.5 Billion". The Wall Street Journal. August 17, 1999. Retrieved October 10, 2015.
  20. ^ Deliso, Meredith (January 18, 2007). "VNU Changes Name to the Nielsen Co". Advertising Age. Retrieved October 10, 2015.
  21. ^ Ives, Nat (December 10, 2009). "Adweek Group Among Titles Sold to e5 Global Media Holdings". Advertising Age. Retrieved October 11, 2015.
  22. ^ a b "Hollywood Reporter, Billboard sold". Los Angeles Times. December 10, 2009. Retrieved October 12, 2015.
  23. ^ "What's in a Name?". Folio:. October 15, 2010. Retrieved October 11, 2015.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: extra punctuation (link)
  24. ^ Kelly, Keith J. (January 16, 2013). "Prometheus bound". New York Post. Retrieved October 11, 2015.
  25. ^ "Hollywood Reporter Parent Company Spins Off Media Assets to Executive". The Hollywood Reporter. December 17, 2015. Retrieved December 20, 2015.
  26. ^ a b c Weinraub, Bernard (May 1, 2001). "Editor at Hollywood Paper Quits in Dispute Over Article". The New York Times. Retrieved October 10, 2015.
  27. ^ a b c d Weinraub, Bernard (May 28, 2001). "Hollywood Paper Suspends Column by George Christy". The New York Times. Retrieved October 15, 2015.
  28. ^ Byrne, Bridget (November 1, 2001). "Hollywood Reporter Columnist Quits". E! Online. Retrieved October 15, 2015.
  29. ^ "Owners of Competing Hollywood Publications Settle Copyright Lawsuit". The Wall Street Journal. Retrieved 8 October 2013.
  30. ^ "The Hollywood Reporter Admits It Stole Code From Rival". Business Insider. April 1, 2013. Retrieved October 10, 2015.
  31. ^ Gorman, Steve (December 10, 2009). "Nielsen to sell Billboard, seven other publications". Reuters. Retrieved October 11, 2015.
  32. ^ a b c d e Axelrod, Nick (October 13, 2011). "Janice Min Takes Hollywood". Elle. Retrieved September 30, 2014. {{cite web}}: Italic or bold markup not allowed in: |publisher= (help)
  33. ^ a b c Carr, David (May 29, 2011). "An Outsider Making Waves in Hollywood". The New York Times. Retrieved September 9, 2012. {{cite news}}: Italic or bold markup not allowed in: |publisher= (help)
  34. ^ Fritz, Ben; Abramowitz, Rachel (May 27, 2010). "A dramatic makeover for the Hollywood Reporter". Los Angeles Times. Retrieved October 15, 2015.
  35. ^ Bernstein, Jacob (May 26, 2010). "Can Janice Min Conquer Hollywood?". The Daily Beast. Retrieved September 30, 2014. {{cite web}}: Italic or bold markup not allowed in: |publisher= (help)
  36. ^ a b c d e Barnes, Brooks (February 15, 2013). "The Hollywood Reporter Dusts Off Its Party Clothes". The New York Times. Retrieved October 11, 2015.
  37. ^ Goldstein, Patrick (July 19, 2012). "The Big Picture: Variety's future looks bleak". Los Angeles Times. Retrieved October 15, 2015.
  38. ^ Carr, David; Sisario, Ben (January 7, 2014). "New Leader at Billboard Sees Future in Visuals". The New York Times. Retrieved September 30, 2014. {{cite web}}: Italic or bold markup not allowed in: |publisher= (help)
  39. ^ Carr, David (May 29, 2011). "An Outsider Making Waves in Hollywood". New York Times. Retrieved October 11, 2013.
  40. ^ "Billboard shake-up puts Hollywood Reporter's Janice Min in charge". Los Angeles Times. January 9, 2014. Retrieved October 12, 2015.
  41. ^ Kelly, Keith J. (February 3, 2015). "Vogue nabs top honor at National Magazine Awards". New York Post. Retrieved October 21, 2015.
  42. ^ "American Humane Association awards accreditation to movies, TV shows despite animal injuries, deaths, report claims". Fox News. November 26, 2013. Retrieved December 22, 2015.
  43. ^ Considered, All Things (November 26, 2013). "Report: Humane Association Covered Up Animal Abuse On Hollywood Sets". NPR.org. Retrieved December 22, 2015.
  44. ^ a b "FAQs". The Hollywood Reporter. October 13, 2010. Retrieved October 12, 2015.
  45. ^ Levy, F. (2000). Hollywood 101: The Film Industry. St. Martin's Press. ISBN 978-1-4299-5525-6. Retrieved October 9, 2015.
  46. ^ Times, Los Angeles (December 12, 2010). "Hollywood Reporter's 'Power 100: Women In Entertainment Breakfast'". latimes.com. Retrieved October 12, 2015.

Notes

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  1. ^ 19 publications according to the Chicago Tribune[17]
[edit]
Wikimedia Commons has media related to The Hollywood Reporter.


Category:The Hollywood Reporter Category:VNU Business Media publications Category:Entertainment trade magazines Category:American magazines Category:Magazines established in 1930 Category:1930 establishments in California

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