Two of what had been six groups have been combined at Nielsen Business Media, with industry veteran Gerry Byrne joining the company as Sr. Vice President, Entertainment Group. Byrne, who had already been consulting Nielsen, will report to Greg Farrar, President of Nielsen Business Media.
The new Entertainment Group under Byrne will 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. Those had been split among the Film & Performing Arts and Music & Literary groups, although both were headed by John Kilcullen, who is leaving Nielsen to pursue entrepreneurial interests.
“Forming a single entertainment unit and strategic vision allows us to maximize our efforts across all platforms. It provides us with broader and more cohesive insight into what our clients need and helps us to better coordinate our approach toward the growing market and revenue opportunities. Going forward, our entertainment brands will work much more closely together to pursue new opportunities across the division and throughout The Nielsen Company,” said Byrne.
RBR/TVBR observation: We can tell you it ain’t easy to make a buck in the trade publishing world these days. Reed Elsevier has already put its business pubs on the auction block, but buyers don’t appear to be jockeying for position. Like the beleaguered daily newspaper business, anyone who is dependent on killing trees and paying postage is finding it hard to survive in a world increasingly dominated by online media. How does Nielsen Business Media fit into the long-term plan at The Nielsen Company? Well, it wouldn’t be the highlight when CEO David Calhoun puts together an IPO road show.
