TV Guide: R.I.P.

[Chicago Jake]

I have been a subscriber to TV Guide for about eighteen years. For one thing, it lets me claim that I read a book a week. For another, it USED TO BE great for figuring out what movie I was watching in a drunken stupor at 3:00 in the morning. And it used to have interesting articles about Star Trek, Battlestar Galactica, etc.

But no more. First, they started using strange and convoluted multi-page "grids" for their prime-time listings that I could never decipher, and no text listings to back them up. Then, they started slanting all their articles toward Reality TV shows, which I never watch. And, the LAST STRAW, they totally stopped listing ANYTHING, not the grid, not the text, NUTHIN', between midnight and 6:00 a.m. Yumpin Yiminy, that's when I watch the most TV, you pinheads!

So, I resolved not to renew my subscription when it ended, which will be next month.

But NOW....... my decision is vindicated as they slip deeper and deeper into irrelevance, like the publishing world's equivalent of Al Gore........




TV Guide Gets More Stories, Fewer Listings

NEW YORK - TV Guide, an iconic magazine for two generations of Americans, is radically remaking itself into a title with a much smaller circulation, a larger, full-color format, fewer listings and more stories about TV shows and stars.

The magazine has struggled to stay relevant in an era where more people look up TV listings online or through on-screen programming guides from their cable and satellite TV providers. TV Guide's parent company, Gemstar-TV Guide International Inc., is also a major provider of those guides and the technology they use.

The magazine will also ditch its digest-sized format in favor of a full-size, full-color format with more stories about TV shows than listings. The new magazine will have 75 percent stories and 25 percent listings, the reverse of the ratio it has now.

more at: way too long of a URL, see Yahoo news

[Hazelita]

Come to think of it, I can't remember seeing an TV Guides at the checkout at the grocery store ... not that I make it a point of looking for 'em. I haven't used 'em in years. Do they not sell at supermarkets and newsstands anymore or is it by sub only? I see lots of Soap Opera Digest but I don't remember what a TV Guide looks like (except for those "vintage" copies Jakey has at home).


P.S. -- Your link doesn't work baby.

[Merlot Joe]

We have been getting TV gudie since we got married over 3O years ago. Yeah it sure has changed over the years but it is still the best at telling you what is on in your given area.

It might not give a complete listing of the movie at 3:00AM, (who in the fuck stays up to 3:00AM) ;D but it sure beats what the local paper puts in the Sunday edition for you to use for the week. Know that sucks!!!!

I like the crossword puzzle that makes me happy.

And yes I can call it my weekly book that I read also.

Joe.


PS. Hazel I did see it at the check out line at Safeway a couple of weeks ago