Another beloved American boomer icon bites the dust.
TV Guide Relaunching As Larger Magazine
By SETH SUTEL AP Business Writer
July 26, 2005 | NEW YORK -- TV Guide is slashing the circulation it guarantees advertisers by about two-thirds and relaunching itself as a large format magazine with far fewer TV listings and more emphasis on lifestyle and entertainment, the magazine announced Tuesday.
TV Guide also said it would cut jobs as part of the revamp, but it did not say how many.
The radical changes to TV Guide come as it struggles to remain relevant in an age where many TV viewers get their TV listings from on-screen guides provided by their cable companies or on the Internet.
The new TV Guide, which will launch with the Oct. 17 issue, will contain just 25 percent listings and 75 percent stories, versus the 75 percent listings and 25 percent stories it has now, the company said early Tuesday.
The magazine currently guarantees 9 million readers to advertisers, according to its most recent filing with the Audit Bureau of Circulations. But the new guarantee will be set at just 3.2 million, which partly reflects the elimination of 3 million in "sponsored" sales or circulation paid for by third parties, a category that has come under scrutiny by the ABC, a circulation watchdog agency.
As part of the changes, TV Guide's parent company, Gemstar-TV Guide International Inc., said it expected to incur losses of up to $110 million in its 2005 and 2006 fiscal years, which also include losses from its recently launched title Inside TV, a celebrity magazine for younger viewers which the company said is not performing as well as expected.
Gemstar-TV Guide International is about 40 percent owned by New York-based News Corp., the media conglomerate controlled by Rupert Murdoch.
The End Of TV Guide As We Know It
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Rspaight
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The End Of TV Guide As We Know It
RQOTW: "I'll make sure that our future is defined not by the letters ACLU, but by the letters USA." -- Mitt Romney
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lukpac
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I never understood TV Guide, since the local papers always seem to have listings anyway (both daily and in a weekly "tv guide" publication).
"I know because it is impossible for a tape to hold the compression levels of these treble boosted MFSL's like Something/Anything. The metal particulate on the tape would shatter and all you'd hear is distortion if even that." - VD
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Rspaight
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30 years ago, they used to have some interesting articles and columns, and much more indepth listings (when there were only four or five stations in the typical market, they had room to do episode synopses, cast lists, and so on) than the typical newspaper listings.
After the cable revolution, though, the differences became much more subtle. Also, TVG's editorial content got severely dumbed down at some point in the late 70s/early 80s. I think they've been running on inertia since then -- people just got TVG because they always had before. Now with on-screen guides on digital cable and satellite, even that wasn't enough to keep them afloat.
Ryan
After the cable revolution, though, the differences became much more subtle. Also, TVG's editorial content got severely dumbed down at some point in the late 70s/early 80s. I think they've been running on inertia since then -- people just got TVG because they always had before. Now with on-screen guides on digital cable and satellite, even that wasn't enough to keep them afloat.
Ryan
RQOTW: "I'll make sure that our future is defined not by the letters ACLU, but by the letters USA." -- Mitt Romney
When I was growing up (late 60s/early 70s) we subscribed to TV Guide and I appreciated the "extras" that Ryan mentioned. I especially enjoyed their annual "Fall Preview" that thoroughly covered the upcoming shows and movies that were slated to make their network debuts.
It's strange to think back, before cable and VCRs, to how much we anticipated seeing movies on TV that we missed at the theatre.
I also remember the TV Guide crossword puzzle as being one of the few I could actually do as a kid!
It's strange to think back, before cable and VCRs, to how much we anticipated seeing movies on TV that we missed at the theatre.
I also remember the TV Guide crossword puzzle as being one of the few I could actually do as a kid!
Dob
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"Democracy is a pathetic belief in the collective wisdom of individual ignorance" -- HL Mencken
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"Democracy is a pathetic belief in the collective wisdom of individual ignorance" -- HL Mencken
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Rspaight
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At the risk of "memories flood my mind with bliss" nostalgia, I'd forgotten how anticipated that fall preview issue was. Before everyone knew the exact status of every show in development via the internet and eleventy-seven different "Access Entertainment Style" shows, that issue was the first glimpse we had of new shows and whatnot.
(As a rugrat, I particularly anticipated the issue where the networks would roll out huge multi-page ads touting their new Saturday morning cartoon lineups. Heck, they'd even have primetime specials to hype that stuff.)
Ryan
(As a rugrat, I particularly anticipated the issue where the networks would roll out huge multi-page ads touting their new Saturday morning cartoon lineups. Heck, they'd even have primetime specials to hype that stuff.)
Ryan
RQOTW: "I'll make sure that our future is defined not by the letters ACLU, but by the letters USA." -- Mitt Romney
Re: The End Of TV Guide As We Know It
My reaction to this is a big yawn. TVG has been shit for decades now....ever since they stopped being a mag that reported on and critiqued the industry as well as profiling celebrities, and became just a miniature version of the US/People celebrity rags.
"I recommend that you delete the Rancid Snakepit" - Grant
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Rspaight
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Re: The End Of TV Guide As We Know It
krabapple wrote:My reaction to this is a big yawn. TVG has been shit for decades now....ever since they stopped being a mag that reported on and critiqued the industry as well as profiling celebrities, and became just a miniature version of the US/People celebrity rags.
And now they'll be the same size!
Ryan
RQOTW: "I'll make sure that our future is defined not by the letters ACLU, but by the letters USA." -- Mitt Romney
