The Wrap’s Sharon Waxman reports this morning that Nielsen’s Business Media has been looking to sell AdWeek, BrandWeek and MediaWeek among other titles (including The Hollywood Reporter and Billboard) “since the middle of last year.” The story claims that the titles have been sold to James Finkelstein’s News Communications Inc.
We’re told that within the Ad/Brand/Media titles there’s been no mention of such a deal, which is unsurprising. “Individuals knowledgeable about the state of the trades said that all of Nielsen’s entertainment titles were suffering. ‘Billboard is doing so-so, Adweek is not doing well at all, and THR is not great,’ said this former senior Nielsen executive. ‘The B-to-B market has just collapsed.'”
Indeed, Nielsen has been cutting back Ad/Brand/Media’s staff over the last year, but we aren’t sure the trade market has collapsed. Traditional publications are certainly having a tougher time, though.