Meeta Agrawal has been named Deputy Editor at Entertainment Weekly, Time Inc. will announce Thursday.
Agrawal is being promoted from Executive Editor, the role she’s held since April of last year. As Deputy Editor, she will offer editorial oversight for EW while working with the digital team to create cross-platform initiatives.
She’ll also facilitate collaborations with EW’s advertising sales and marketing teams to grow business.
“The caliber of EW’s TV coverage is a testament to Meeta’s wide-ranging connections and her personal passions,” said EW Editor-in-Chief Henry Goldblatt. “I can think of no one more qualified for the job or whom I’d rather have at my side; Meeta lives and breathes the brand.”
To date, Agrawal oversaw EW’s TV department and worked with the video and digital teams to expand television coverage across all platforms. She’s also managed EW Radio, the brand’s channel on SiriusXM. Before joining EW in 2007, she was a staff editor at Life Magazine.
In a widespread, exclusive interview with new People/EW President Rich Battista and Editorial Director Jess Cagle Thursday, both squashed rumors EW would be going away.
“No. The arrival of Rich is actually a tremendous sign in the confidence we have in EW,” Cagle said. “People is obviously a huge revenue driver for the company, but Time Inc. understands what I understand, which is EW is an incredibly strong brand that is still very profitable, but it’s under-leveraged.”
“Coming from the entertainment world and from the multimedia world, sitting on the phone right now, I can probably come up with 10 ideas of what to do with EW in the event space, or in television, or in digital video, or in acquiring tangential businesses that would be great corollaries to EW in the content entertainment space,” Battista said. “I think the ideas are endless. I think there’s just great opportunity to approach new media platforms vis-à-vis EW.”