Description
Entertainment Weekly (sometimes abbreviated as EW) is an American digital-only entertainment magazine based in New York City, published by Dotdash Meredith, that covers film, television, music, Broadway theatre, books, and popular culture. The magazine debuted on February 16, 1990, in New York City, and ceased print publication in 2022.
Different from celebrity-focused publications such as Us Weekly, People (a sister magazine to EW), and In Touch Weekly, EW primarily concentrates on entertainment media news and critical reviews; unlike Variety and The Hollywood Reporter, which were primarily established as trade magazines aimed at industry insiders, EW targets a more general audience.
History
Formed as a sister magazine to People, the first issue of Entertainment Weekly was published on February 16, 1990.
Created by Jeff Jarvis and founded by Michael Klingensmith, who served as publisher until October 1996, the magazine's original television advertising soliciting pre-publication subscribers portrayed it as a consumer guide to popular culture, including movies, music, and book reviews, sometimes with video game and stage reviews, too.
In 1996, the magazine won the coveted National Magazine Award for General Excellence from the American Society of Magazine Editors. EW won the same award again in 2002.
In September 2016, in collaboration with People, Entertainment Weekly launched the People/Entertainment Weekly Network. The network is "a free, ad-supported, online-video network [that] carries short- and long-form programming covering celebrities, pop culture, lifestyle, and human-interest stories". It was rebranded as PeopleTV in September 2017.
Beginning with the August 2019 issue, Entertainment Weekly transitioned to a monthly issue model.
Bruce Gersh, president of the Meredith entertainment division, which includes both EW and People, said that the cutback in print would be accompanied by deeper 24/7 digital coverage. Entertainment Weekly would still produce weekly digital "covers" and push into podcasts, and planned events and experiential offerings with stars and festivals.
JD Heyman, deputy editor of People, replaced Henry Goldblatt as editor. As a result of the change, about 15 people were cut. Previous owner Time Inc. spent $150 million developing EW after its February 1990 launch, and was rewarded for its patience when the magazine made a six-figure profit at the end of 1996, and in its peak years was cranking out $55 million in annual profit.
Though still profitable before the switch to being monthly, EW was squeezed in recent years as celebrity coverage exploded across all platforms, and print advertising shrank. While still called a "weekly" before the switch, it was publishing only 34 issues a year. Meredith, after completing its $2.8 billion acquisition of Time Inc., considered selling the title, along with several others, but was convinced to keep EW in part because it was so intertwined with top money-maker People.
On August 2, 2021, the site of the Greek edition of the magazine was launched, Greece being the first country outside the U.S. in which the magazine would be available.
On February 9, 2022, Entertainment Weekly ceased print publication and moved to digital-only. The final print issue was that of April 2022. In May 2022, executive editor Patrick Gomez stepped into the editor-in-chief/general manager role.
