Historical Note

The concept of a weekly magazine assessing readers' entertainment options arose at Time Inc. in 1988 almost simultaneously with Mike Klingensmith and Jeff Jarvis, who then collaborated to develop the concept that became Entertainment Weekly. Time Inc. spent two years studying and testing the concept which included the formation of a Task Force on  Entertainment Weekly. This task force studied the proposed magazine's advertising potential, editorial direction, researched competing magazines, and performed direct mail marketing tests including soliciting subscriptions before the magazine was ready to be published, and created plans and reports based on their findings.  Entertainment Weekly began publication in 1990.

Citation:

Time Inc. Subject Files, MS 3009-RG 1, New-York Historical Society.