TV Guide, we hardly knew ye

33girl · #1 10-28-2005, 10:30 AM

Here's a nice article about TV Guide finally saying (to quote Dave Letterman) "screw it, run Old Yeller" and giving up because everyone now has onscreen listings.

http://www.rednova.com/news/technolo...e=r_technology

I cancelled my subscription after it became all grids and no substance. I don't know how it could get LESS substantive.

They did used to have really good articles on issues in the TV industry (plus profiles that weren't just total buttkissing) and I remember those as being some of the first grown-up things I ever read.

ISUKappa · #2 10-28-2005, 10:35 AM

I think I remember reading about them planning on going to more of a full magazine size/layout but they would just be another incarnation of In Touch our US Weekly with TV listings. Sorry to see they're pulling out entirely, but I can understand their reasons.

As long as Reader's Digest is still around, we'll be okay.

Thrillhouse · #3 10-28-2005, 10:36 AM

All local papers around here are touting that they are the only "print" source for local listings. Collectible covers are about the only thing going for the tv guide now.

DeltAlum · #4 10-28-2005, 01:14 PM

With all of the weekly TV sections in major market newspapers and the guides on cable/satellite, who needs TV Guide?

KSigkid · #5 10-28-2005, 01:55 PM

Quote:

Originally posted by ISUKappa
I think I remember reading about them planning on going to more of a full magazine size/layout but they would just be another incarnation of In Touch our US Weekly with TV listings. Sorry to see they're pulling out entirely, but I can understand their reasons.

As long as Reader's Digest is still around, we'll be okay.

That's what I thought as well, and I know some supermarkets around Boston are selling the magazine edition. Maybe it hasn't done well and they've already decided to abandon the concept.

MysticCat · #6 10-28-2005, 02:18 PM

Quote:

Originally posted by KSigkid
That's what I thought as well, and I know some supermarkets around Boston are selling the magazine edition. Maybe it hasn't done well and they've already decided to abandon the concept.

No, I think it's a misunderstanding that they're stopping publication altogether. I haven't seen any news to that effect, and their website indicates they're still going -- going with the new format and fewer listings. The story linked by the OP doesn't say they're giving up.

Why they're still around, I don't know, but they still are around.

33girl · #7 10-28-2005, 02:49 PM

Yes. I meant giving up in the sense of giving up being a useful and needed publication for TV viewers. It would be better if they folded altogether rather than come to this - Walter Annenberg must be spinning in his grave.

ISUKappa · #8 10-28-2005, 02:55 PM

See that's what I get for just reading 33girl's post and not the actual article. I'm spreading misinformation all over the place.

AchtungBaby80 · #9 10-28-2005, 02:59 PM

My parents take a subscription to TV Guide, but my mom's thinking about letting it run out because they have the onscreen listings from the cable service. I have seen the new magazine version, though--it's been that way for a couple weeks now. So far it's just like an expaded version of the "glossy" pages that were always in there, except it's bigger and longer. I just don't like the way the listings are laid out, though...they're about the same (in grid form) as they have been lately, with a few "highlights" described at the beginning. I liked it way back when, when they listed all the shows and details about each one instead of trying to cram everything into a stupid grid.