The Hollywood Reporter

**The Hollywood Reporter (THR)** is an American publication covering film, television, theater, and the entertainment business, available both digitally and in print. It launched in 1930 as a daily trade newspaper, then in 2010 shifted to a weekly large-format print magazine alongside a redesigned website. Since 2020, Penske Media Corporation has managed its daily operations through a joint venture with Eldridge Industries. The magazine also produces international editions and hosts major industry events.

**History**

**Foundation and early years** William R. "Billy" Wilkerson founded The Hollywood Reporter in 1930 as Hollywood’s first daily entertainment trade paper. The first issue came out on September 3, 1930, featuring Wilkerson’s front-page "Tradeviews" column, which became influential. For its first decade, the paper ran Monday through Saturday (with a brief interruption), then switched to Monday through Friday in 1940. Wilkerson used sharp articles and gossip to attract attention, catching the notice of New York studio bosses; some studio lots tried to ban the paper.

In 1932, Variety sued THR, claiming it plagiarized information from Variety’s New York edition by phoning or wiring details to Hollywood, allowing THR to publish before Variety arrived three days later. In 1933, Variety launched its own daily Hollywood edition, Daily Variety.

Screenwriter and anti-communist Jack Moffitt—who wrote many film scripts during Hollywood’s Golden Age and was father of model and actress Peggy Moffitt—joined THR in 1955, writing numerous reviews.

Wilkerson befriended Howard Hughes, and the paper ran many favorable stories about Hughes and his film projects. In return, Hughes provided advertising revenue and financial support when needed.

Wilkerson ran THR until his death in September 1962, though his final column appeared 18 months earlier. His wife, Tichi Wilkerson Kassel, took over as publisher and editor-in-chief.

**Hollywood blacklist** From the late 1930s, Wilkerson used THR to argue that the industry was a communist stronghold. He opposed the Screen Writers Guild, calling it the "Red Beachhead." In 1946, when the Guild considered creating an American Authors’ Authority to hold copyright for writers instead of studios, Wilkerson devoted his July 29 "Tradeviews" column to the issue, headlined "A Vote for Joe Stalin." He went to confession before publishing it, knowing the damage it would cause, but a priest reportedly encouraged him to proceed.

The column named the first industry figures—including Dalton Trumbo and Howard Koch—on what became the Hollywood blacklist, known as "Billy’s list." Eight of the 11 people Wilkerson named were among the "Hollywood Ten" blacklisted after 1947 House Un-American Activities Committee hearings. When Wilkerson died in 1962, his THR obituary stated that he had "named names, pseudonyms and card numbers and was widely credited with being chiefly responsible for preventing communists from becoming entrenched in Hollywood production."

In 1997, THR reporter David Robb wrote about the paper’s involvement, but editor Robert J. Dowling declined to run it. For the blacklist’s 65th anniversary in 2012, THR published a lengthy investigative piece by reporters Gary Baum and Daniel Miller about Wilkerson’s role. The same edition carried an apology from Wilkerson’s son, W. R. Wilkerson III, who wrote that his father had been motivated by revenge for his thwarted ambition to own a studio.

**1988–2008: BPI Communications** On April 11, 1988, Tichi Wilkerson Kassel sold the paper to BPI Communications, owned by Affiliated Publications, for $26.7 million. Robert J. Dowling became THR president in 1988, and editor-in-chief and publisher in 1991. Dowling hired Alex Ben Block as editor in 1990; Block and Teri Ritzer reduced much of the sensationalism and cronyism that had marked the Wilkerson era. In 1994, BPI Communications was sold to Verenigde Nederlandse Uitgeverijen (VNU) for $220 million.

In March 2006, a private equity consortium led by Blackstone and KKR—both with ties to the U.S. conservative movement—acquired THR along with VNU’s other assets. It joined those publications with AdWeek and A.C. Nielsen to form The Nielsen Company.

In December 2006, a wave of layoffs hit: vice president for content and audience Matthew King, editorial director Howard Burns, and executive editor Peter Pryor left. Editor Cynthia Littleton, widely respected in the industry, began reporting directly to Kilcullen. THR took another blow when Littleton left for an editorial job at Variety in March 2007. Web editor Glenn Abel also left after 16 years.

From 1988 to 2014, Daily Variety and THR were both located on Wilshire Boulevard along Miracle Mile. In March 2007, THR surpassed Daily Variety to achieve the largest total distribution of any entertainment daily.

**2009–2010: Prometheus Global ownership** In December 2009, Prometheus Global Media—a new company formed by Pluribus Capital Management and Guggenheim Partners, chaired by Jimmy Finkelstein, CEO of News Communications (parent of political journal The Hill)—acquired THR from Nielsen Business Media. It pledged to invest in the brand and grow the company. Richard Beckman, formerly of Condé Nast, was appointed CEO.

In 2010, Beckman recruited Janice Min, former editor-in-chief of...