More Trouble For Prometheus

Prometheus Global Media, which owns Billboard and The Hollywood Reporter, has apparently shed the Hollywood Creative Directory from its roster of trade publications.

HCD is considered a virtual “phone book” of film/TV/music industry producers, directors, talent reps and execs, according to Deadline Hollywood.

Internal sources at Prometheus told Deadline Hollywood, which happens to have a copyright infringement suit pending against the company, that the HCD staff of four was laid off and that the directory has been sold. However, a Prometheus spokesman contacted by Deadline gave a different story.

“We’ve sold our online database, as it was not core to the HCD business. But we continue to publish the directory this year and are considering transitioning it to an online-only resource soon,” said a statement given to Deadline.

Hollywood Creative Directory was originally acquired by VNU Business Media, which also formerly owned Billboard and THR, as part of its purchase of IFilm Corp. in Sept. 2004, according to the entertainment news blog.

Deadline also reports that Adweek, another Prometheus publication, is also suffering declining ad revenue under editor Michael Wolff and “now the high-profile Wolff is considered a goner.”