Billboard Radio Monitor - The Merger With Radio & Records

The Merger With Radio & Records

On July 6, 2006 VNU, the parent company of Billboard Radio Monitor, announced the acquisition of Radio & Records, which became a part of the Billboard Information Group a month later on August 1. R&R had been considered a rival to Billboard and BRM for more than 33 years (since 1973, the year R&R started) and like BRM also used radio airplay to determine chart activity.

In a statement on both R&R and Billboard Radio Monitor's websites:

“This acquisition is in line with VNU's strategy to further strengthen its services to the radio and record industries,” said Michael Marchesano, president and CEO of VNU Business Media and Nielsen Entertainment. “With the added resources of VNU, especially our music services, including the Billboard Information Group, Nielsen BDS, and Nielsen SoundScan, R&R will continue to grow as a vibrant brand.”

With the purchase of R&R it was announced on July 12, 2006 that their operations were integrated into R&R after the transition was completed, since both BRM and R&R's charts and radio reporting panels were identical to each other, thus resulting in Billboard Radio Monitor ceasing publication with its July 14 issue. However they continued issuing weekly charts and report on radio industry news online during the turnover, as R&R started integrating their articles and columns into the Billboard Information Group.

Once the merger was completed both trades was relaunched on August 11 under the "R&R" name, which combined the features and format articles from the current R&R but continues to use the same BDS charts and format reporting panels that was featured in Radio Monitor, starting with the week ending August 6. The change also ended R&R's partnership with Mediabase after the August 4, 2006 issue.