This just in from Nikki Finke (At least someone does some legwork. Certainly not Jossip):

Publisher John Kilcullen kept saying for months and months he was looking for a "star" to be the next editor of The Hollywood Reporter. He even delusionally told job candidates he wanted someone "along the lines of Ken Auletta". No, he wasn't joking. logo_hollywood-reporter.gifBut it does seem like a joke that he's now hired Elizabeth Guider, an unimpressive choice who sources tell me was passed over and demoted at Variety. In short, this looks to be far less of a get and more like an also-ran…

…Kilcullen made it clear to everyone inside the business who called him suggesting names that he was looking for a softball editor, someone who wouldn't ruffle advertisers' feathers.

Gerry Byrne, who retired as group vice president of Variety and Daily Variety after 11 years in that post and is now a so-called senior adviser to Nielsen, THR's owner. "He's the secret power with no official title calling the shots," an insider described. I'm told it was Byrne who helped engineer THR's hiring of Mika (from London), and Einstein, and now Guider.