Entertainment Weekly Moving Headquarters to Los Angeles (EXCLUSIVE)

Go west, venerable magazine.

Entertainment Weekly is moving its headquarters from New York City to Los Angeles, Variety has learned. The move is expected to take place by next March and the publication isn’t sure how many employees will opt to head out to California, but it expects that between 40 to 50 staffers will ultimately make the move. The company will pay to relocate employees. Currently, there are 66 staffers in New York.

“As we re-imagine and re-invent our brand it makes sense to do it in the entertainment capital,” said EW Editor-in-Chief Henry Goldblatt (pictured), who will be among the staffers re-locating to Los Angeles.

Since being founded in 1990, Entertainment Weekly has been headquartered in New York City. It has a bureau in Los Angeles with about a dozen staffers, and once its headquarters switches costs, plans to maintain a presence in Manhattan. In L.A. Goldblatt will join Time Inc. Entertainment Group Senior Vice President Ellie Duque. Together they will work on growing the magazine’s advertiser base. Entertainment Weekly will continue to have editorial, sales and marketing staff in New York.

Like many magazines, Entertainment Weekly, which is part of Time Inc. stable of media properties, is facing stiff headwinds as readers and advertisers move away from print publications to digital platforms. It’s trying to re-fashion itself into a true multi-platform company, and already offers podcasts, a SiriusXM radio channel, and is moving into television and other filmed content. It just announced that it will host a video series for Watch, Facebook’s new platform for video, that will reunite the casts of movies and shows such as “Family Matters” and “Pretty in Pink.” Next year, the company is partnering with A&E on an eight-part documentary series called “Cultureshock” that will be produced by “Supersize Me” director Morgan Spurlock’s Warrior Poets production banner.

Just as Johnny Carson once moved “The Tonight Show” to Burbank to be closer to studios, Entertainment Weekly is betting that the move will allow them to have better access to film and television stars, directors, and other creative forces. The company will move into Time Inc.’s offices in West Los Angeles — a space that recently was renovated to include video studios.

“The opportunity to be physically in L.A. will allow us to turbocharge our efforts to become a true multi-platform company,” said Rich Battista, president and chief executive officer of Time Inc. “We’re going to be taking this brand in a lot of new places.”

As for Goldblatt, it will be his first time living in Los Angeles, a city he frequents for work. He’s looking forward to being closer to family, as well as having easier access to Hollywood decision makers.

“On a personal level I’m looking forward to taking my nieces and nephews out for ice cream,” he said. “Professionally, by being in the backyard of the industry, I hope I’ll get to go to more TV and movie sets.”

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