Janice Min to step down from Hollywood Reporter after remaking the trade publication

Janice Min, the editor who transformed the Hollywood Reporter from a struggling trade publication into a glossy Tinseltown magazine, is moving on after nearly seven years.

Min, 47, who runs both the Hollywood Reporter and its music-focused sister trade Billboard, will leave at the end of this month for a new post at the publications’ parent company Eldridge Industries to help guide the firm’s investments in media, including potential acquisitions.

The move, which has been in the works for about two months, was announced to the Hollywood Reporter’s more than 100 staffers Monday morning at an all-hands meeting. Matthew Belloni, the magazine’s executive editor, will become editorial director, overseeing the publication’s web, video, print and live events businesses. Billboard will be run by Mike Bruno, who previously served as the music magazine’s senior vice president for content.

Min joined the trade publication in 2010 when it was getting hammered with competition from online outlets and the decline of print advertising, after decades covering the details of film and TV industry news. The former US Weekly editor transformed the Hollywood Reporter by eliminating its weekday print edition in favor of a slick weekly magazine with a big photo budget.

The Hollywood Reporter says it has a print circulation of 74,000. It draws 16 million online visitors a month, according to comScore.

The management change has reignited speculation about a possible sale of the Hollywood Reporter and Billboard, though Eldridge and its deep-pocketed chairman Todd Boehly have said they aren’t looking for a buyer. Eldridge recently secured a deal to sell Dick Clark Productions to Dalian Wanda Group for $1 billion.

However, Boehly, a Dodgers co-owner and former Guggenheim president, is said to be interested in adding more media properties to his portfolio, including cable networks, and was at one point said to be interested in buying Hulu. The Hollywood Reporter-Billboard Media Group in December acquired music publication Spin, hip-hop magazine Vibe and indie rock blog Stereogum.

Belloni, a former entertainment lawyer who joined the Hollywood Reporter in 2006, said Min had decided to take on a new role after years of overseeing two print magazines and 24-hour news operations.

Belloni is known for his expertise in the business side of entertainment, while Min had valuable cachet with celebrities and other movers and shakers. But Belloni said he does not foresee major changes to the magazine’s strategy of covering entertainment.

“The nice thing is that Janice and I have similar sensibilities,” Belloni, 41, told The Times. “We have a formula that works for us, and I don’t anticipate major changes to that formula.”

Min’s last official duty as co-president and chief creative officer of The Hollywood Reporter-Billboard Media Group is hosting Monday night’s gala for Oscar nominees, expected to draw A-listers including Justin Timberlake, Emma Stone and Mel Gibson.

“I am confident the ethos of this place will go on and I will always be a phone call or email away,” Min said in a note to staff. “Just not in person always, and not running those meetings anymore.”

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