Entertainment Weekly Rolls Off the Press : Media: Time Warner is spending $40 million in hopes of reaching readers who want reviews in a nutshell.

Time Warner Inc. has bet heavily that consumers are hungry for a magazine that offers a weekly menu of movie, book, video and music reviews in small servings.

The result, Entertainment Weekly, which goes on sale today, is the first newsstand start-up by the nation’s largest magazine publisher since People magazine in 1974.

The estimated $40-million investment also marks the company’s first new product since Time Inc. completed its blockbuster $14-billion merger with Warner Communications Inc. last month.

Time became America’s premier magazine company by creating highly successful titles such as Time, People, Sports Illustrated, Money and Fortune.

But it lost the magic in the 1980s with a couple of famous flops, including Picture Week, tested but then canceled in 1986, and TV-Cable Week, a magazine aimed at cable subscribers that cost $47 million and was folded after just six months.

Analysts say that, unlike the failed ventures, the new magazine is supported by comprehensive marketing studies that have identified potential readers. The demand will come from young people who need a guide to the burgeoning entertainment media.