The Hollywood Reporter and Billboard are for sale amid ongoing losses and co-president Janice Min is stepping aside, individuals with knowledge of the company told TheWrap.
A spokesman for the company confirmed that Min is leaving and that Matthew Belloni would take over as editorial director of The Hollywood Reporter while Billboard’s current Senior Vice President for Content, Mike Bruno, will become editorial director of Billboard. Min will join the parent company Eldridge Industries to advise on “devising a media investment strategy,” according to a news release.
Eldridge’s Todd Boehly, the former Guggenheim Partners hedge fund manager who assumed ownership of The Hollywood Reporter-Billboard Media Group in December 2015 when they were spun off from Guggenheim Media, is looking for a new buyer after failing to stem years of financial losses.
The group suffered around $20 million in losses in 2016, and has sustained similar annual losses for the past several years, multiple insiders told TheWrap.
A spokesman for THR did not confirm that the company was for sale. An insider told TheWrap that there have been “expressions of interest” in buying the media company, adding: “We evaluate all these offers on their own merits and when there is something to announce, we announce it. Right now, we have nothing to announce.”
Last November, Boehly sold off another former Guggenheim entertainment property, Dick Clark Productions, to the Chinese conglomerate Dalian Wanda for a reported $1 billion. However, that sale is not yet complete, according to an individual close to that deal. Dalian Wanda paid in installments and one payment has yet to go through. The size of each payment is not clear, but is expected to occur at the end of February.
Min, who was named co-president and chief creative officer of both THR and Billboard in 2014 for an annual salary reported to be worth more than $2 million, is expected to take a more limited role at the publications as early as this week, according to one individual close to the sale. The move is seen as a way to reduce overhead to make the company more attractive to potential buyers.
Min is credited with transforming an anemic daily show business trade into a glamorous, talent-and-executive-friendly weekly — but at great expense and ongoing losses that have made for challenging business prospects. Plans to establish a cable channel based on the Billboard and THR brands have not materialized thus far.
Min joined THR in 2010 from a long and successful tenure at celebrity weekly Us Magazine. Lagging behind fellow print trade Variety in both design and relevance, according to an interview last year with NPR, Min pushed the majority of nuts-and-bolts industry coverage to THR.com and killed the daily print edition in favor of a glossy weekly.
The website reports 15 million unique monthly visitors, according to ComScore, and the magazines have a monthly circulation of 70,000.
Min also prioritized premium video production, like THR’s roundtable series which stars actresses, directors and below-the-line talent seeking awards consideration. The series now has a cable broadcast partner in SundanceTV.
Min has consistently likened her revamp of THR to the glossy pages of iconic Conde Nast title Vanity Fair, but its subscriber numbers have never moved beyond a fraction of Graydon Carter’s monthly.
Min spent four years as the magazine’s editorial director before assuming her co-president role, an upgrade and out-maneuvering of the group’s then-head and former Yahoo interim CEO Ross Levinson, TheWrap reported at the time. She more than doubled her salary when she took on the job.
In June of last year, Min made a rare foray into the pages of her own magazine by sitting down with then-Republican presidential candidate Donald Trump at his New York City property.
12 Chinese-Owned Media Companies, From Dick Clark Productions to AMC (Photos)
A firehose of Chinese investment has been flowing into Hollywood for the last few years, as Middle Kingdom firms have scooped up production companies and theater chains by the billion. And while D.C. has finally taken notice -- and is asking the government to take a closer look at foreign ownership of American content companies -- Chinese firms have already accumulated a substantial portfolio of media and entertainment-related companies often at healthy premiums. And Hollywood isn’t ready to look that gift horse in the mouth.
AMC/Carmike/Legendary/Getty Images
AMC THEATRES Owner: Dalian Wanda Group
Wanda, a real estate and entertainment conglomerate owned by China’s richest man, Wang Jianlin, made its first Hollywood splash in 2012 when the company paid $2.6 billion for AMC Entertainment, the parent of AMC Theatres, the second-largest theater chain in the U.S.
AMC Theatres
Carmike Cinemas Owner: Dalian Wanda Group
Wanda-owned AMC paid $1.2 billion to acquire Carmike Cinemas in a deal that just closed in November. The combined chain will be America’s largest theatrical exhibitor, passing former No. 1 Regal Entertainment.
Mike Kalasnik
Legendary Entertainment Owner: Dalian Wanda Group
Wanda paid $3.5 billion for the “Jurassic World” production company in January, even though Legendary lost $500 million last year, according to a Chinese regulatory filing. However, plenty of Legendary’s high-octane action and fantasy flicks have been bigger hits in China than the U.S., such as “Warcraft.”
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Dick Clark Productions Owner: Dalian Wanda Group
Wanda spent $1 billion to acquire the producer of the Golden Globes, American Music Awards and “New Year’s Rockin’ Eve.” The deal marks Wanda’s first foray into television after spending billions on the big screen.
Dick Clark Productions
Voltage Pictures Owner: Anhui Xinke New Materials
Anhui Xinke, a copper processing company, bought an 80 percent stake in Voltage parent Midnight Entertainment for $351 million. Voltage is the production company behind Oscar-winning films including “The Hurt Locker” and “Dallas Buyers Club.”
Voltage
STX Entertainment Owner: Hony Capital, Tencent
Independent distributor STX was founded with investments from private equity giant TPG and Chinese firm Hony Capital. The company also has a co-financing deal with China’s Huayi Bros. Media, and this year secured a strategic investment from Tencent to expand into digital content, music and virtual reality.
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World Triathlon Corporation Owner: Dalian Wanda Group
Wanda paid $650 million last year for the company that organizes the Ironman Triathlon races, folding it into its new Wanda Sports division.
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IM Global Owner: Tang Media Partners
Tang Media Partners, which has offices in Shanghai and L.A., acquired a controlling stake in Stuart Ford’s film finance firm from Indian conglomerate Reliance in June. IM Global has financed or produced more than 30 Hollywood films, including Mel Gibson’s “Hacksaw Ridge.”
IM Global
Studio8 Owner: Fosun Group
Chinese conglomerate Fosun is the largest shareholder in former Warner Bros. chief Jeff Robinov’s production company, having invested $200 million in Studio8.
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Dichotomy Creative Group Owner: LeEco
Consumer tech company LeEco’s subsidiary Le Vision Pictures opened an L.A. office this year and hired former Paramount Pictures President Adam Goodman to run it and oversee a slate of English-language films. As part of the deal, LeEco acquired Goodman’s production company, Dichotomy.
Adam Goodman
Cirque du Soleil Owner: Fosun Group
It’s a Canadian circus, not a movie or TV studio, but Cirque du Soleil operates six Vegas shows, several tours and earned $845 million in revenue in 2014. Last year, TPG and Fosun acquired a majority stake in Cirque du Soleil for $1.5 billion.
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Riot Games Owner: Tencent
Tencent acquired a 93 percent stake in the video game publisher for $400 million in 2011 and acquired the remainder last December. Riot’s “League of Legends” is the most played PC game in the world.
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Firms from China have been scooping up production companies and theater chains by the billion in recent years
A firehose of Chinese investment has been flowing into Hollywood for the last few years, as Middle Kingdom firms have scooped up production companies and theater chains by the billion. And while D.C. has finally taken notice -- and is asking the government to take a closer look at foreign ownership of American content companies -- Chinese firms have already accumulated a substantial portfolio of media and entertainment-related companies often at healthy premiums. And Hollywood isn’t ready to look that gift horse in the mouth.