Billboard (magazine)

===Changes in ownership===
''Billboard'' struggled after its founder William Donaldson died in 1925, and within three years, was once again heading towards [[bankruptcy]].<ref name="booksdirectory"/> Donaldson's son-in-law Roger Littleford took command in 1928 and "nursed the publication back to health."<ref name="booksdirectory"/><ref name="newsweek"/> His sons Bill and Roger became co-publishers in 1946<ref name="newsweek"/> and inherited the magazine in the late 1970s after Littleford's death.<ref name="booksdirectory"/> They sold it to private investors in 1985 for an estimated $40&nbsp;million.<ref name="Jackson Keller Flood 2010 p. 638"/> The investors cut costs and acquired a trade publication for the [[Broadway theatre|Broadway]] theatre industry called ''Backstage''.<ref name="booksdirectory"/>

In 1987, ''Billboard'' was sold again to Affiliated Publications for $100&nbsp;million.<ref name="Jackson Keller Flood 2010 p. 638">{{cite book | last1=Jackson | first1=K.T. | last2=Keller | first2=L. | last3=Flood | first3=N. | title=The Encyclopedia of New York City: Second Edition | publisher=Yale University Press | year=2010 | isbn=978-0-300-18257-6 | url=https://books.google.com/books?id=lI5ERUmHf3YC&pg=PT638 | access-date=November 5, 2015 | page=638 | archive-date=March 16, 2022 | archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220316160539/https://books.google.com/books?id=lI5ERUmHf3YC&pg=PT638 | url-status=live }}</ref> Billboard Publications Inc. became a subsidiary of Affiliated Publications called BPI Communications.<ref name="booksdirectory"/> As BPI Communications, it acquired ''[[The Hollywood Reporter]]'', ''[[Adweek]]'', ''[[Marketing Week]]'' and ''[[Mediaweek (American magazine)|Mediaweek]]'', and also purchased [[Nielsen Broadcast Data Systems|Broadcast Data Systems]], a high-tech firm for tracking music airtime.<ref name="booksdirectory"/> Private investors from Boston Ventures and BPI executives repurchased a two-thirds interest in Billboard Publications for $100&nbsp;million, and more acquisitions followed. In 1993, it created a division known as Billboard Music Group for music-related publications.<ref name="booksdirectory"/>

In 1994, Billboard Publications was sold to Dutch media conglomerate [[Verenigde Nederlandse Uitgeverijen]] (VNU) for $220&nbsp;million.<ref name="The New York Times 1994">{{cite web | title=Dutch Buyer Acquires BPI | website=The New York Times | date=January 15, 1994 | url=https://www.nytimes.com/1994/01/15/business/company-news-dutch-buyer-acquires-bpi.html | access-date=October 10, 2015 | archive-date=December 23, 2015 | archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20151223193744/http://www.nytimes.com/1994/01/15/business/company-news-dutch-buyer-acquires-bpi.html | url-status=live }}</ref>{{efn|19 publications according to the ''Chicago Tribune''<ref name="tribunedigital-chicagotribune 1994">{{cite news | title=Dutch Firm To Purchase Billboard, Film Magazine | newspaper=Chicago Tribune | date=January 17, 1994 | url=http://articles.chicagotribune.com/1994-01-17/business/9401170084_1_boston-ventures-hollywood-reporter-entertainment-news-wire | access-date=October 10, 2015 | archive-date=December 23, 2015 | archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20151223235626/http://articles.chicagotribune.com/1994-01-17/business/9401170084_1_boston-ventures-hollywood-reporter-entertainment-news-wire | url-status=dead }}</ref>}} VNU acquired the [[Clio Awards]] in advertising and the National Research Group in 1997, as well as ''[[Editor & Publisher]]'' in 1999. In July 2000, it paid $650&nbsp;million to the publisher [[Miller Freeman, Inc.|Miller Freeman]]. BPI was combined with other entities in VNU in 2000 to form Bill Communications Inc. By the time CEO Gerald Hobbs retired in 2003, VNU had grown substantially larger, but had a great deal of debt from the acquisitions. An attempted $7&nbsp;billion acquisition of [[IMS Health]] in 2005 prompted protests from shareholders that halted the deal; it eventually agreed to an $11&nbsp;billion takeover bid from investors in 2006.<ref name="booksdirectory"/>

VNU changed its name to [[Nielsen N.V.|Nielsen]] in 2007, the namesake of a company that it had acquired for $2.5&nbsp;billion in 1999.<ref name="WSJ 1999">{{cite news | title=VNU to Buy Nielsen Media In Deal Valued at $2.5 Billion | newspaper=The Wall Street Journal | date=August 17, 1999 | url=https://www.wsj.com/articles/SB934790785976203829 | access-date=October 10, 2015 | archive-date=December 13, 2020 | archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20201213225803/https://www.wsj.com/articles/SB934790785976203829 | url-status=live }}</ref><ref name="Deliso 2007">{{cite web | last=Deliso | first=Meredith | title=VNU Changes Name to the Nielsen Co. | website=Advertising Age | date=January 18, 2007 | url=http://adage.com/article/media/vnu-nielsen/114382/ | access-date=October 10, 2015 | archive-date=December 23, 2015 | archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20151223190633/http://adage.com/article/media/vnu-nielsen/114382/ | url-status=live }}</ref> New CEO Robert Krakoff divested some of the previously owned publications, restructured the organization and planned some acquisitions before dying suddenly in 2007. He was subsequently replaced by Greg Farrar.<ref name="booksdirectory"/>

Nielsen owned ''Billboard'' 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.<ref name="Ives 2009">{{cite web | last=Ives | first=Nat | title=Adweek Group Among Titles Sold to e5 Global Media Holdings | website=Advertising Age | date=December 10, 2009 | url=http://adage.com/article/media/media-news-adweek-sold-e5-global-media-holdings/140994/ | access-date=October 11, 2015 | archive-date=December 24, 2015 | archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20151224052542/http://adage.com/article/media/media-news-adweek-sold-e5-global-media-holdings/140994/ | url-status=live }}</ref><ref name="Los Angeles Times 2009">{{cite web | title=Hollywood Reporter, Billboard sold | website=Los Angeles Times | date=December 10, 2009 | url=http://latimesblogs.latimes.com/entertainmentnewsbuzz/2009/12/hollywood-reporter-billboard-sold.html | access-date=October 12, 2015 | archive-date=September 18, 2020 | archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200918103938/https://latimesblogs.latimes.com/entertainmentnewsbuzz/2009/12/hollywood-reporter-billboard-sold.html | url-status=live }}</ref> The following year, the new parent company was renamed [[Prometheus Global Media]].<ref name="Folio: 2010">{{cite web | title=What's in a Name? | website=Folio | date=October 15, 2010 | url=http://www.foliomag.com/2010/whats-name/ | access-date=October 11, 2015 | archive-date=March 4, 2016 | archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160304052614/http://www.foliomag.com/2010/whats-name/ | url-status=live }}</ref> Three years later, Guggenheim Partners acquired Pluribus' share of Prometheus and became the sole owner of ''Billboard''.<ref>{{cite news|url=http://www.ft.com/intl/cms/s/0/3ed4fe46-5f2d-11e2-9f18-00144feab49a.html|title=Former Yahoo chief moves to Guggenheim|last=Steel|first=Emily|newspaper=Financial Times|date=January 15, 2013|access-date=January 15, 2016|archive-date=March 16, 2022|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220316160545/https://www.ft.com/content/3ed4fe46-5f2d-11e2-9f18-00144feab49a|url-status=live}}</ref><ref name="Numbers 2013">{{cite web | title=Yahoo Exec Tapped To Head Prometheus Global Media | website=Folio | date=January 15, 2013 | url=http://www.foliomag.com/2013/yahoo-exec-tapped-head-prometheus-global-media/ | access-date=January 11, 2016 | archive-date=May 29, 2016 | archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160529163647/http://www.foliomag.com/2013/yahoo-exec-tapped-head-prometheus-global-media/ | url-status=live }}</ref>

In December 2015, Guggenheim Digital Media spun out several media brands, including ''Billboard'', to its own executive [[Todd Boehly]].<ref name=deadline-guggensell>{{cite web|title=Guggenheim Prepares To Sell Hollywood Reporter, Dick Clark Productions To Exec|url=https://deadline.com/2015/12/guggenheim-partners-sell-hollywood-reporter-dick-clark-productions-todd-boehly-1201668970/|website=Deadline.com|access-date=December 18, 2015|date=December 17, 2015|archive-date=June 20, 2017|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170620201145/http://deadline.com/2015/12/guggenheim-partners-sell-hollywood-reporter-dick-clark-productions-todd-boehly-1201668970/|url-status=live}}</ref><ref name=thewrap-todd>{{cite web|title=Guggenheim Media Spins Off Money-Losing Hollywood Reporter, Billboard to Company President Todd Boehly (Exclusive)|url=https://www.thewrap.com/guggenheim-media-spins-off-hollywood-reporter-billboard-to-company-president-todd-boehly-exclusive/|website=The Wrap|access-date=December 18, 2015|date=December 17, 2015|archive-date=December 20, 2015|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20151220003424/http://www.thewrap.com/guggenheim-media-spins-off-hollywood-reporter-billboard-to-company-president-todd-boehly-exclusive/|url-status=live}}</ref> The assets operate under the Hollywood Reporter-Billboard Media Group, a unit of the holding company [[Eldridge Industries]].<ref name="bloomberg-draftkingsfund">{{cite news|title=Dodgers' Boehly Leads $100 Million DraftKings Investment|url=https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2017-03-09/dodgers-boehly-said-to-lead-100-million-draftkings-investment|newspaper=Bloomberg.com|date=March 9, 2017 |access-date=March 10, 2017|archive-date=March 9, 2017|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170309224456/https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2017-03-09/dodgers-boehly-said-to-lead-100-million-draftkings-investment|url-status=live}}</ref>