New York, NY (April 6, 2016) —Time Inc.’s (NYSE: TIME) Entertainment Weekly announced a multi-year partnership with the ATX Television Festival, now in its fifth year, which will take place June 9-12, 2016, in Austin, TX. Entertainment Weekly (EW) will be the presenting sponsor, along with Toyota, of the 10-year reunion of “Ugly Betty,” which will take place on the festival’s closing night this year, and will feature cast members America Ferrera, Eric Mabius, Vanessa Williams, Becki Newton, Michael Urie, Ashley Jensen, Ana Ortiz, Tony Plana, Mark Indelicato and Judith Light.

In addition, EW will host multiple “After Dark” happy hours celebrating select casts who will be attending ATX. EW will also host panels throughout the weekend with casts and creators, and has coverage planned across the brand’s multiple platforms -- reaching an audience of nearly 27 million passionate and engaged fans -- including the magazine, on EW.com and on EW Radio (channel 105 SiriusXM).

“Having EW host last year’s closing night reunion with the Gilmore Girls was an incredible experience and our audience loved watching the Q&A with the cast and creator on EW.com. I couldn’t be happier for us to expand our partnership in the festival’s fifth year,” said Henry Goldblatt, Editor-in-Chief, Entertainment Weekly.

“Expanding our relationship with Entertainment Weekly to multi-year presenting partner, after last year's successful collaboration, will allow us to continue to reach a broader audience, not just for the annual festival in Austin, but also for our year-round programming events," said Caitlin McFarland and Emily Gipson, Co-Executive Directors and Founders, ATX Television Festival. "We're grateful to Henry Goldblatt, Rich Battista, and the wonderful team at EW, for recognizing how perfectly our brands align, and we look forward to continuing our partnership for years to come."

As previously announced, television icon Norman Lear will receive this year’s ATX Award for Achievement in Television Excellence, and panels for this year’s festival include “The O.C.” Writers Room Reunion with creator Josh Schwartz and the show’s writers, along with a script reading of the pilot episode; a “Friday Night Lights” High School Reunion on Panther Field, with surprise guests and events; a special “Everybody Loves Raymond” 20 year Reunion with cast and producers; “The Shield” Writers Room Reunion with creator Shawn Ryan and the show’s writers; a panel of First Time Showrunners and Creators; a panel featuring TV Stunt Performers; a panel discussion of The (New) American Family with Nahnatchka Kahn, Casey Johnson & David Windsor; a Conversation with David Simon and Tom Fontana moderated by Beau Willimon; a Conversation with Norman Lear moderated by Jerrod Carmichael; a Conversation with Noah Hawley moderated by Beau Willimon; series panels and screenings for Hulu’s “Casual,” Lifetime’s “UnREAL,” TV Land’s “Younger,” FX’s “Tyrant,” AMC’s “Preacher,” TV Land’s “The Jim Gaffigan Show,” and Freeform’s “Dead of Summer;” a script reading of the never-picked-up pilot “Big” with creators Kevin Biegel and Mike Royce, along with surprise cast; a “State of Grace” Reunion with cast Mae Whitman and Alia Shawkat, along with creators Brenda Lilly and Hollis Rich; and panelists Betsy Beers, Kurt Sutter, Jennie Snyder Urman, Hart Hanson and Krista Vernoff. Additional programming, panels and panelists will be announced at a later date.

For the latest developments, tickets and badges visit the ATX Television Festival official site www.atxfestival.com and follow us on Facebook & Twitter.

For co-promotion, please link to @ATXFestival #ATXTVs5 on Twitter.

---

About Entertainment Weekly

Entertainment Weekly is your all-access pass to Hollywood’s most creative minds and most fascinating stars. The magazine was launched by Time Inc. in 1990 and is America’s leading consumer publication in the entertainment category, with a guaranteed circulation rate base of 1.5 million and a combined audience of almost 27 million loyal, engaged fans. Each day, EW.com publishes a myriad of featured stories, blog posts, TV-recaps, original videos, film reviews and photo galleries. In April 2015, the PEOPLE/Entertainment Weekly Network reached #1 in its competitive set with 56.4 million unique visitors and during the same month, EW.com desktop, tablet and mobile growth hit an all-time high of 19.9 million combined unique visitors. Entertainment Weekly is the first to know about the best in entertainment. With sharp insight, unparalleled access and a trusted voice, EW keeps readers plugged into pop culture. This is where the buzz begins.

Entertainment Weekly is also available on the iPhone®, iPad®, Apple News App, NOOK Color™, HP Touchpad, Kindle Fire, Next Issue, and select Android™ devices. On social media, join the Entertainment Weekly community on Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, Pinterest, Tumblr and Google+.

About ATX Television Festival

ATX’s focus is the celebration of the television medium – looking back at its history, where it is now, and where it is headed. Our weekend consists of events in which attendees can interact with actors, writers, directors, creators, showrunners, music supervisors, casting directors and studio executives involved in all stages of bringing their favorite shows to the small screen. We have all the functionality of a traditional film festival – spotlighting classic shows, never-aired pilots, cancelled too soon series, cult favorites, current hits and premieres of new series. In addition, we feature episode screenings with Q&A’s with the cast and creators, panels focused on industry related topics, and parties, live music, meet-ups, social media events and “super secret happy hours.” ATX’s goal is to serve both the community and industry professionals equally, by giving them the opportunity to discuss and celebrate all aspects of TV.

 

CONTACT:

Beth Jacobson
Communications, Entertainment Weekly
212 522 7827
beth_jacobson@ew.com
Alison Rou
Communications, ATX Television Festival
213 393 3038
AlisonRou@AnchorMediaStrategy.com