The End of TV GUIDE?!
 

http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20050726/...v_guide_revamp

Hey, a weekly magazine with entertainment stories instead of TV listings...wait a minute, I already get that...it's called ENTERTAINMENT WEEKLY!

This sucks because I recently extended my subscription through 2008, and now I don't even know if I want it...guess I'm one of the few that doesn't use the internet or my cable channel (that ticker is just too damn slow) to see what's coming on. Plus with the subscription price going DOWN, looks like I may have paid a little more for my renewal than I should have...and I'm guessing they have no intention of extending anyone's subscription for those that have already paid.

I guarantee this will mark the end of TV Guide within 5 years...they may have been on their way out anyway, but this is the last nail in the coffin. ENTERTAINMENT WEEKLY is just too good of a magazine for TV GUIDE to compete in that same market.

Since I use the cable menu for show schedules, I will be more likely to buy or subscribe to a revamped TV Guide. It does make me kind of sad though, it's the end of a long run. Way back when, I used to collect TV Guides. My first issue was Sept 6-12 1980 with Richard Chamberlain as Shogun on the cover. I wish I still had them, especially now that it will soon be different.

I'm actually very happy with this news. I renewed a few months ago with a 5 year sub on ebay for about $30. I never use the listings anymore (TiVo!) and just read the articles, so this is a big bonus. I also get Entertainment Weekly. The articles never seem to overlap that much, I'm not too concerned. I'm sure there will be plenty of people who aren't happy though, mostly in the older ages.

I hardly use my tvguide except for when new seasons start they have a page dedicated to season start (and endings) ..other than that I just read the first 20 pages with the "tv news" and it sits until the next week...

I read the entertainment section at the beginning and toss it. The internet and built in guides are where it is at. A revamp is a good idea.

Wow. I predict that my parents will end the subscription they've had for over 30 years.

Mr. Costanza, is that you???

RICKY: I like the special Fall preview issues the best.

FRANK COSTANZA: Those. I've been saving those from the beginning.

RICKY: These are worth, like, a lot of money.

I miss the "Classic Movies - Have You Seen These Great Films?" section in "the Guide" - found some little known hidden gems on TCM, AMC, etc. because of it.

I'm not surprised this is happening, considering that people nowadays use the Internet to find TV listings, not to mention the fact that digital cable boxes and DirecTV/Dish Network receiver boxes have built-in program guides anyway.

This is where I find www.zap2it.com very useful, to say the least. Also, the portal page MyWay.com from Ask Jeeves, Inc. also has an excellent TV program listing service; it allows you to find listings up to two weeks in advance and even does searches based on title names for a specific show and the times they are being shown. :up:

I agree this may be the end. Pesonally I'd be more likely to subscribe now if the price was right, but I hardly know any people my age or younger that get the magazine. I really don't know if the changes would be enough to pull them in. On the flipside I'd imagine most of their existing subscribers are longtimers like my parents. My mom was already pissed that they narrowed the tv listings last year. I'm sure this will be the final straw.

I understand them wanting to become relevant again, and their need to reach a longer audience. But I just see this change as being so initially hated (along the lines of New Coke) by their existing core audience that they'll never fully recover from it. For many people, TV Guide without listings (because frankly, National only listings in Eastern time are completely worthless to anyone in our area) defeats the point. Will Cheers & Jeers be enough to keep them?

TV Guide has been fucking worthless as an actual TV Guide for quite a while now.

Have you ever noticed how thin it's gotten? They only have listings for primetime programming now. Nothing for late night, and just a general grid to cover daytime.

You all can blame me for this. I did a market study for them about what was good/bad about their magazine.

Same here. Visiting the folks and seeing a stack of 4-5 TV Guides on the end table (and bathroom!) will soon be a thing of the past.

I might actually subscribe to the new version. I used to get TV Guide and I loved the articles but the listings were worthless to me.

I'd love to have a magazine geared solely to TV. I love EW but their TV section is far too small for me.

Insert obligatory Frank Costanza reference here. (Edit: davejt1 beat me by three hours. Never mind!)

I finally let my subscription to TV Guide lapse after literally years of getting it but not reading it. Thanks to TiVo, the grid listings are superfluous. The articles can be entertaining, I guess, but I can get all of the info from the net, so I don't really need them.

Same thing for me too.

I don't buy it on a regular basis anymore either. I don't look at the listing anymore but enjoy some of the articles so maybe the revamp is a good idea.
Now, the Fall Preview I still like and will still buy.

Yup, same here. I even forget I have it sometimes and will quickly check out a two week old issue for the Cheers & Jeers section before chucking it. :lol:

Anyway my current free sub is good until Dec.

They are telling advertisers the circulation will decrease by about two-thirds. How can this be a good business decision?

I have been expecting this for a while. Really inevitible. With the advent of onscreen program listings reaching the mainstream crowd, I am amazed the original Guide has lasted as long as it has. RIP Tv Guide.

My mother already ditched her subscription after about the same amount of time. They basically made it unusable over the last 2 years. She uses GuidePlus, but still liked to use TV Guide for planning for the week.

I'm actually surprised they don't continue the "guide portion" as a separate publication. They could leave out all the colorful articles, etc. and simply have a full listing on the non glossy paper like they used to, to keep the people who actually wanted the print guide. They would have to return to the "fuller details" way they used to, of course. The market for print guides is dying, sure, but it's still there.

Splitting the magazine into "articles only" and "guide only" would seemingly hit both niches. It would decrease the amount of markey share they would lose. I know my mom, for one, would gladly keep paying the existing subscriber fee for the magazine if it retuned to the fuller listings, even without the articles and color pages.

That article mentioned that it was really expensive for them to produce so many different local editions.

They could save a ton of money by only having a national edition even with fewer subscribers.

Doesn't a TV listings book come with your Sunday paper?

Why would anyone pay for something they get for free (if they get the paper)?

TV Guide has gone under too many changes in a short time. I've always been a subscriber for the most part. The proliferation of cable channels makes the grid difficult to print though.

Our paper has grids for daytime, and no descriptions for any shows, just listings. It used to be that people could go to TV guide for more detailed descriptions of the shows, whether it's a rerun or not, who stars in movies, etc. Some newspaper listings may have that, but not all. Since their most recent overhaul most of this is gone and now they are pretty much as useful as our local paper, though.

I can honestly say I tried to give TV Guide a chance, even with on line listings so prevalent. However, they fail to list all the channels my cable provider has in my area, so it's pretty pointless. I tried to give it a chance in the 21st century, but found it to be the most worthless magazine ever. Glad to see they are revamping.

And even the TVGuide.com website sucks ass. The last time I tried to go there, it was all flash animation and pop ups. No thanks. About as annoying as their "channel."

I hardly use the listings at all but the reason I get it at all is for those listings (mostly my wife, but I don't always feel like looking on the web, and I hate using the guides on the tv). The listings were barely tolerable as it was (since they started showing daytime all in a grid) so this will most likely be my last TV Guide subscription.

I hardly use the listings at all but the reason I get it at all is for those listings (mostly my wife, but I don't always feel like looking on the web, and I hate using the guides on the tv). The listings were barely tolerable as it was (since they started showing daytime all lumped together) so this will most likely be my last TV Guide subscription.

This is a good decision for a variety of reasons... but I doubt it'll be enough to get me to ever subscribe. I get enough "TV-based news" through both this forum and just general pop-culture osmosis. I have no need to pay for it.

We have not purchased an actual TV Guide since back in the 80's, but out of unconcious habit, we still call our Sunday paper TV listing booklet as the "TV Guide". At least the "TV Guide" name will live on in our household for generations to come...

8^B

The last two times I recall buying a TV Guide, was the last two Elvis issues with the CD singles on the front (I'm bit on the obsessive side with CD things like that). I don't even think I read the insides.

Here's a pic comparing the size of the new version:

http://images.usatoday.com/money/_ph...side-guide.jpg

:eek: I like the small format. I just don't need the listings anymore.

If you read TV Guide, you don't need a TV!

I had cable from 1987-90, and TV Guide was an absolute must. I'd spend an hour each week circling the shows I was going to tape. Now they act like TV doesn't exist between midnight and 8am; no listings for late night/early morning.

Anybody pick up the new format and care to comment?

http://www.tvguide.com/NR/rdonlyres/...51011cover.jpg

Mine should be in the mailbox waiting for me.

I've always hated the way tvguide had it's listings and much preferred the guide that came in my Sunday paper, but I stopped using paper tv listings ages ago. Good move on tvguides part.

I got a look at it today. It's strange, because it's more or less the same content, but I had to keep reminding myself I wasn't reading Entertainment Weekly. It kind of feels like the same tone as that mag now. All the previous B&W sections are in full-color now, which is nice. They've added a few new things here and there that don't really interest me but I don't hate either.

As for the listings, they're essentially unchanged except that there are NO local listings of any sort. They have network listings, but simply list 'Local Programming' for the non-network time blocks. They have color-coded this section, which makes it a bit more legible.

I got my new copy today. What a piece of crap! No daily listings, just grids and highlights. Perfect for the person who reads People. I waited to renew so I could judge the new format. I'm not renewing but they automatically renewed for me (and said I owed them $51.16)! The f***ing nerve! I sent off a blistering email to them.

I got mine today also. At a first quick glance it appears to be fairly dopey.
I only get it now via the free year sub that will run out in Dec.
When that happens, fine. I won't seek to renew.