While I understand TV Guide, my favorite magazine for most of my life (no snickering, please) needed to make changes due to declining revenues, this format change isn't what I'd hoped for. In October, the bible of TV viewers, will get bigger, going to the size of most magazines and will concentrate on celebrity stories. Or in other words, it will become just another slick celebrity news magazine with a focus on TV.
On the pro side: cheaper, hmmmmm.... that's all I can see.
On the con side: no more regional/local editions (just editions for East and Pacific time zones), the larger size (while this might be a pro to many/most people, it's a problem for me in that it won't fit in the little space by the TV and VCR remotes anymore), no more specific local listings due to the lack of regional editions.
I don't mind progress, or change, but when the change makes something less relevant to my needs, then it's time for me to move on, too. I like the articles in TVG, but mainly, I buy it for the advance listings (a week in advance) for my favorite shows. Yes, I can keep checking them online, but it's a lot more work to keep looking everything up online than sitting on the subway and flipping through the pages on the way home, seeing what I have to look forward to seeing during the following week.
If TVG becomes just another TV celebrity mag, what do I need it for? The coverage of my type of shows is limited in it now. If I want to read about Stargate or Battlestar Galactica or Charmed or Alias, I buy the genre publications the British do so well, or the mags devoted to specific shows. And I can still get the occasional issue that features House or CSI.
As with many other things lately, this will be the end of an era. I'll miss it.
Online scanning doesn't quickly allow one to look for things that are unknown. Looking through TV Guide lets one discover events that might have been missed. I can't do this easily with the cable guide. The cable guide also doesn't extend outward by more than a few days, eliminating the use of recording that way when going away for a week on vacation (which is why I still set up my VCR despite having Tivo). And what possible value is generic listings without the local affiliate specifics? Bottom line, having been an active subscriber to TV Guide for almost 40 years, I'll be dropping my subscription as soon as the conversion is in place. -- Stu in Providence
ReplyDeleteHi, Stu,
ReplyDeleteYes, I completely agree. You've hit on some excellent points.