In New Era, Entertainment Weekly Must Appeal Moment by Moment

When Entertainment Weekly launched in 1990, ambitious executives running the new publication – which debuted with a relatively unknown K.D. Lang on the cover –  tread deliberately into uncharted territory.Nearly 30 years later, personnel are carving out a similar path. EW will have to chronicle entertainment of the moment, even as its print magazine is scaled back to once a month.Staffers at EW’s current owner, Meredith Corp.,  will seek to keep ink-and-paper aficionados happy even as its staff ramps up production of digital-only articles as well as podcasts, video pieces and events. “I think that what I have to do is really make this something that people talk about and keep talking about  not only in the pages of this amazing improved magazine product, but every day and every minute of the day on our various brand extensions,”says JD Heyman, a former deputy editor at sister title People who has been named EW’s new editor. EW’s struggle to find a new, sustainable format is one being fought by many traditional magazine publishers. Meredith is one of the last big magazine backers in the U.S., a publicly traded company that still produces dozens of issues of Better Homes & Gardens, Martha Stewart Living, Cooking Light and Parents. It used its January 2018 purchase of one of its most storied rivals, Time Inc., for $1.85 billion plus debt, to snare People, while sending other big Time titles like Time and Fortune to entrepreneurs. The company recently sold Sports Illustrated’s business operations to Authentic Brands for $110 million, while agreeing to publish the magazine for another two years.