Time-ing is everything, or is it?

Michael Calderone in the New York Observer called up a bunch of the big shirts at Time Inc. to talk over the decision by Time magazine to move back its deadline, coming out on Fridays instead of Mondays—returning to the schedule established by Time-founder Henry Luce in 1923. It's of particular interest since Maclean's beat Time to the punch by saying that it was moving its deadline back to come out on Thursdays.

He quotes Richard Stengel, the managing editor of Time: "“All news breaks online anyway. So why are we hoarding things to release them on Sunday night? It just seems crazy.”

And Calderone reports that other Time Inc. titles are thinking along the same line: Bill Shapiro, managing editor of Life magazine (which is now a weekend supplement in 90 U.S. newspapers) said: “I can’t speak for Time’s readers or what Time’s editors are trying to achieve with this, but we’ve both figured out that the best time to get readers’ attention is on the weekend...From an advertising perspective, Friday is a terrific day to get into someone’s hands.”
Stengel said advertising has nothing to do with Time's decision ("Advertising has never come up as one of the deciders."): “You are getting information into people’s hands when they are most ready to have it. It is about leadership and steering the debate, and creating the agenda, rather than merely reflecting or mirroring it.”