The July 30, 2016, cover page featuring Demi Lovato and Nick Jonas
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Editor | Mike Bruno |
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Former editors | Tony Gervino, Bill Werde, Ken Schlager |
Categories | Entertainment industry |
Frequency | Weekly |
Publisher | Lynne Segall |
Total circulation | 17,000 magazines per week 15.2 million unique visitors per month |
Founder | William Donaldson and James Hennegan |
Year founded | November 1, 1894 | (as Billboard Advertising)
Company | Prometheus Global Media |
Country | United States |
Language | English |
Website | www |
ISSN | 0006-2510 |
Billboard is an American entertainment media brand owned by Prometheus Global Media. It publishes pieces involving news, video, opinion, reviews, events and style. It is also known for its music charts, including the Billboard Hot 100 and Billboard 200, tracking the most popular singles and albums in different genres. It also hosts events, owns a publishing firm, and operates several TV shows. Billboard was founded in 1894 by William Donaldson and James Hennegan as a trade publication for bill posters. Donaldson later acquired Hennegen's interest in 1900 for $500.
In the 1900s, it covered the entertainment industry, such as circuses, fairs and burlesque shows. It also created a mail service for travelling entertainers. Billboard began focusing more on the music industry as the jukebox, phonograph and radio became commonplace. Many topics it covered were spun-off into different magazines, including Amusement Business in 1961 to cover outdoor entertainment so that it could focus on music. After Donaldson died in 1925, Billboard was passed down to his children and Hennegan's children, until it was sold to private investors in 1985. The magazine continued to change hands to Affiliated Publications (1987), VNU/Nielsen (1994) and its current owner, Prometheus Global Media (2009). As of 2016, it has been shifting to more of a consumer focus online. Formerly located at 770 Broadway, New York, they recently moved uptown to 340 Madison Avenue, New York.
The first issue of Billboard was published in Cincinnati, Ohio, on November 1, 1894 by William Donaldson and James Hennegan. Initially, it covered the advertising and bill posting industry and was called Billboard Advertising. At the time, billboards, posters and paper advertisements placed in public spaces were the primary means of advertising. Donaldson handled editorial and advertising, while Hennegan, who owned Hennegan Printing Co., managed magazine production. The first issues were just eight pages long. The paper had columns like "The Bill Room Gossip" and "The Indefatigable and Tireless Industry of the Bill Poster." A department for agricultural fairs was established in 1896. The title was changed to The Billboard in 1897.