Guggenheim Partners shook up its trade publications on Wednesday, stripping unit CEO Ross Levinsohn of operational control while removing Billboard Editor-in-Chief Bill Werde in a power play that clearly puts Janice Min in the driver’s seat and banishes a potential rival.
Min, who has been the editor-in-chief of The Hollywood Reporter for the past three years, has been elevated to the post of co-president and chief creative officer of the newly formed entertainment group of Guggenheim Media, which includes THR and extends her domain to Billboard.
Sources said she used her connections in Hollywood to begin serious talks about jumping ship to a top job at a cable network as her $1 million contract to run THR was nearing its conclusion on Dec. 31.
She was rumored to have held exploratory talks with a number of cable outlets, including NBC cable operations, OWN, the Oprah Winfrey-owned network, and A&E, headed by CEO Nancy Dubuc.
“The talks that were most serious were with A&E,” said one source. Guggenheim Partners, the venture capital firm that also owns the L.A. Dodgers, was in a panic over potentially losing one of the few red-hot editors on the media horizon, the source said.
In less than three years, the former US Weekly editor converted THR from a sleepy trade magazine into a must-read oversized glossy and boosted Web traffic to 11.87 million unique visitors a month.
So the venture capital firm handed her the editorial keys to Billboard and The Hollywood Reporter, and as part of the deal, Levinsohn — an executive that Min disliked deeply because of his lack of print media experience — was banished to the sideline. Min now reports directly to Guggenheim Partners President Todd Boehly, who is also chairman of its Guggenheim Media operation.
The cable networks all denied making any offers to Min. But one source close to the situation said Min’s hand was strengthened in her negotiations because “there definitely was another suitor” who made an offer.
Added another, “She’s a very good negotiator.”
Min declined to comment on the negotiations but said she was looking forward to running Billboard.
“It is not an asset that is broken on the side of the road,” she said, referring to Billboard. “It is in much better shape than when I took over the Hollywood Reporter. But we have to find a way to make Billboard special in a very competitive field.”
John Amato, the one-time CEO of Backstage, is coming on board as co-president to run the business operations at the entertainment group with Min. Backstage was owned by Amato’s Aidem Media and Guggenheim, but was sold in late December to a new firm, RZ Capital.
Guggenheim Media also owns Adweek and the CLIO Awards. Guggenheim Media was, until recently, known as Guggenheim Digital Media, which is now apparently a shell company with two employees, Levinsohn and Werde, who will act as consultants.
Regarding Levinsohn’s new role, a company statement said: “Ross Levinsohn remains chief executive officer of Guggenheim Digital Media and continues to report directly to Todd Boehly.”
Levinsohn, a former top executive at Yahoo!, had been brought aboard with the idea of acquiring top media brands. But attempts to buy such names as Hulu, Vevo and IMG were unsuccessful.
Levinsohn will continue to pursue media opportunities in the digital space, the statement added. But insiders said several people were fired from his staff Wednesday and he has no direct reports or profit and loss responsibilities in the new lineup.
Observers said it was reminiscent to the way in which former CEO Richard Beckman was ousted in June 2012. He was stripped of most responsibilities in 2011, but kept the title and stuck around for close to a year after losing power.
Levinsohn declined to comment on the shakeup.
On his Tumblr account, Werde wrote what appeared to be his farewell address: “Mine has been an amazing seat from which to watch the entertainment business evolve. Guggenheim Digital has expressed interest in me working to develop some new ideas within their framework of companies, and I look forward to applying an entrepreneurial approach to the entertainment and media realms that we’ve all spent so much time studying. More soon!”
Adweek is now going to be run as part of a separate media group within Guggenheim Media and the company said it was appointing Jeff Wilbur to be its president. He was formerly a chief financial officer for the company and splitting up the operations has increased speculation that Adweek could be spun off.