Cha-Cha-Cha-Cha-Changes

What’s Up! moves to Sundays, Free Weekly goes digital, starting next week

Image by Deb Harvell A new page in the Friday news section, 'Sup: An Abbreviated Guide to Entertainment," will carry readers from Friday, Nov. 3, to Sunday, Nov. 5, when the new What's Up! debuts in the Sunday paper. 'Sup will appear every Friday in the news section.
Image by Deb Harvell A new page in the Friday news section, 'Sup: An Abbreviated Guide to Entertainment," will carry readers from Friday, Nov. 3, to Sunday, Nov. 5, when the new What's Up! debuts in the Sunday paper. 'Sup will appear every Friday in the news section.

What’s Up!, the Northwest Arkansas Democrat-Gazette’s weekly arts and entertainment section, will expand with new content and move to Sunday beginning Nov. 5.

“One of the first things I noticed as a newcomer to Northwest Arkansas was that What’s Up! offered great local entertainment stories every week,” says Brent Powers, director of advertising and marketing for the Northwest Arkansas Democrat-Gazette. “It is valuable information for those of us trying to take advantage of all that Northwest Arkansas offers.”

Powers and Todd Nelson, president of the Northwest Arkansas Democrat-Gazette, agree What’s Up! will serve readers and advertisers better by moving to Sunday, with its larger circulation. In addition to the usual wide-ranging roundup of arts and entertainment activities, the new Sunday What’s Up! will also include television listings, games and puzzles that will make it “the largest weekly entertainment product in Northwest Arkansas,” Nelson says.

Today marks the last Friday edition of What’s Up!

“We’re very fortunate to have the same staff continue to bring their expertise in arts and entertainment to What’s Up! on the new day,” editor Rusty Turner says. “We’ll be giving readers more time to plan their entertainment choices — because there is always more happening in Northwest Arkansas — but we won’t leave loyal Friday readers wondering what to do with their weekend. We’ll have a new page, ‘Sup: An Abbreviated Guide to Entertainment,’ in our Friday news section.”

Also beginning with next week’s edition, The Free Weekly will become an online-only product, still helmed by the Features staff.

“We are launching a new, expanded website and a brand new app for the site as well,” Powers says. “The Free Weekly has great locations for free distribution. It also has a great loyal base of readers online at www.freeweekly.com. By using what have traditionally been free distribution points for The Free Weekly for the new expanded What’s Up! and providing a new website and app for The Free Weekly, we are serving both audiences.”

“This is a great opportunity to be the first to have an expanded Sunday section and an expanded website for fans of the Free Weekly,” says Becca Martin-Brown, Features editor for the newspaper. “It will be fun! And I think our readers will love it!”

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