EARLIER DELIVERY FOR “ENTERTAINMENT WEEKLY”

In order to compete more effectively against syndicated TV entertainment shows and celebrity websites, Time Inc.’s Entertainment Weekly is tightening its production schedule so that it can got to press after 3:00 p.m. on Tuesday and get copies to its 1.7 million subscribers by Friday. Copies will hit newsstands and supermarket check-out counters by Thursday or Friday. The magazine said that the change in schedule will enable it to court movie studios, which spend heavily on TV advertising on Thursdays in advance of weekend releases. Mediaweek magazine observed on its website today (Wednesday) that EW‘s ad pages have plummeted more than 50 percent over the past five years. “This is a way to make sure [advertisers] are in the market as soon as ever,” publisher Ray Chestowski told the trade publication.