Cityview is a publication of Cityview Publishing, Inc. Cityview is an independently owned lifestyle magazine in Knoxville, Tennessee. Since its inception in 1984, Cityview has specialized in stories, articles, and photo editorials focusing on businesses, people, and places in and around the Knoxville area. The magazine has made a mission to bring art, music, sports, and culture to its readers in East Tennessee.
Nancy and John Lyle lost their insulation business to a fire in 1983, and they decided to publish their story in a short magazine called The Home Living Guide. They mailed it to 40,000 homes in the Knoxville area. Shortly after publishing, they were able to start selling profiles to other home-related and lifestyle businesses in the area. They decided to continue with their project; and to rename the magazine Cityview. Under the ownership of the Lyle's, the magazine ran strictly advertorial pieces in order to tell the stories of the businesses they featured.
The magazine fell victim to troubles under the direction of Betty Lue Sharp. In late 2000, Betty Lue sold the magazine to Nathan Sparks, the current publisher, in an effort to revitalize the publication. Under the leadership of Sparks, Cityview evolved from a strictly advertorial magazine to an editorial publication. Sparks says he had begun to form the vision of a magazine "that would emphasize all that was good in the community." The turning point for the magazine's success was in 2001 when they ran a small cartoon depiction of the scandal between then-University of Tennessee President Wade Gilley and his employee Pamela Reed. This gained Cityview an exclusive interview with Reed, an event that would transform Cityview into a household name.
The magazine began to carve a niche in the community for featuring individuals that the citizens of Knoxville wanted to hear about, most notably of those were Tina Wesson, the winner of Survivor season 2. The magazine also gained notoriety in the November 2001 when they broke the news of Knoxville Mayor Victor Ashe allowing $40 million in tax incentives to the Knoxville News Sentinel and subsequently raising the property tax to make up for the loss, something the mayor had previously denied doing.
In 2008, the magazine scaled back to publishing on a bimonthly basis. This was also the year a new minimalist creative direction was introduced for the magazine's aesthetic. With these changes also came new issue themes including: education, arts, entertainment, and entrepreneurship. Of the new content, the most successful was Cityview's "Top Chefs" issue in which they showcased the best and brightest culinary talent in the area. At the event, local chefs would prepare and present attendees with entrees and desserts which would then be judged. The winner would be named the city's "Top Chef" for the year.
Under the leadership of Nathan Sparks, editor-in-chief Steve Friedlander, and creative director Bryan Starmer, the magazine has been able to maintain its mission to bring the best of Knoxville to its readers. With the help of managing editor, Sarah H. Clark, and their talented contributors, the magazine has come together as the city's leading editorial magazine.