Jason Wagenheim, former Vanity Fair associate publisher, has been named the new publisher for Entertainment Weekly.

At Vanity Fair, Wagenheim worked with both the title's print and digital properties. In his new role at Entertainment Weekly, he will oversee the magazine as well as EW.com.

Prior to joining Vanity Fair, he was executive director of the Condé Nast Media Group. In addition, Wagenheim served as associate publisher for Condé Nast Traveller as well as Blender magazine. He has also been the advertising director for Dennis Digital, where he helped develop Maxim.com.

Time Inc Style and Entertainment Group president Paul Caine, who announced the appointment, said he was "confident that Wagenheim will help EW cement its position as America's leading consumer magazine of entertainment and popular culture."

Earlier, Ray Chelstowski surprised the publishing fraternity when he announced his abrupt departure from Entertainment Weekly on 19 November after registering tremendous success for the magazine with a 20.71 per cent increase in the number of advertisement pages.