BILLBOARD - REPORT HOLLYWOOD REPORTER SOLD

REPORT HOLLYWOOD REPORTER SOLD

The struggling entertainment trade publication The Hollywood Reporter , is likely to be sold to News Communications Inc., owner of "Who's Who" publications and the Washington, D.C.-based trade, The Hill , Sharon Waxman's TheWrap.com reported Tuesday. The Nielsen company, which owns the Reporter , is also reportedly planning to sell six other media-related publications to News Communications, including Billboard, Backstage, Adweek, Brandweek, Mediaweek and Editor & Publisher. Word of the sale comes on the heels of widespread speculation that the Reporter might soon shut down its print operations and become an online-only trade publication. It has been hit by a succession of staff cutbacks as the studios' advertising budgets have become splintered among competing entertainment websites.

11/11/2009