[2] Gannett ceased publication after the December 28, 2014, issue, citing a decline in print advertising and a company effort to minimize duplicative offerings.

By the mid-1980s, it was carried in 362 newspapers nationwide for a total circulation of 12.8 million copies, making it the third-largest weekly magazine in the U.S., ranking behind its main competitor Parade (owned since 1976 by Advance Publications, which would sell it to Athlon Media Group in 2014) and TV Guide.

After the sale was finalized later that spring, Gannett renamed it USA Weekend and designated 1985 as its founding year for promotional purposes and anniversary observances.

[4] USA Weekend focused its articles on social issues, entertainment personalities and pop culture, health, food reviews and recipes, and travel.

USA Weekend lost up to $10 million in operating costs during the 2013 and 2014 fiscal years, which in previous years had resulted in the shift from the carrier newspapers paying a licensing fee to Gannett to publishers of these papers receiving a fee from the company for distributing USA Weekend (a structure that had also affected other syndicated Sunday magazines).