As we reported in October, TV Guide's prospects look as bleak as a Friends spin-off. The brand that Rupert Murdoch paid $3 billion for in 1988 was recently purchased from MacroVision (NASDAQ:MVSN) by OpenGate Capital -- for a buck.
At that, the venture capital company might have overpaid, since the magazine comes laden with up to $100 million in obligations. Worse, the purchase only included the paper version; MacroVision retained TVguide.com. On the bright side, MacroVision loaned OpenGate $9.5 million at 3% interest to help cover those obligations.
How does OpenGate plan to wring cash from this turnip? The magazine ad business has dropped severely as businesses segue to the Internet. TV Guide's circulation has steadily eroded as well, as viewers find more timely and user-friendly information on their cable listing channel or Internet sites such as AOL Television.
The bread-and-butter features that TV Guide dominated for decades, profiles of stars and peeks inside popular productions, have been trumped by shows such as Entertainment Tonight and magazines like People. In an age where consumers demand customized content delivered on the platform of their choice, by paper and through the mail is an increasingly unpopular option.
According to the New York Times, TV Guide claims to have turned a profit this year, which I view with the same suspicion as I do David Copperfield's claim to have disappeared an elephant. If this magazine isn't already Lost, it's one of my top candidates to be voted off of Survivor: Madison Avenue.











Reader Comments (Page 1 of 3)
12-08-2008 @ 2:20PM
ZIPPY THE CLOWN said...
GROWING UP ALWAYS READ TV GUIDE. THEN THEY INVENTED THE REMOTE AND CABLE. SO MUCH FOR TV GUIDE. THE CRAP THEY PUT ON TV ISN'T WORTH MORE THAN A FEW SECONDS OF VIEWING. THAN I CAN SURF THE OTHER CHANNELS AND FIND SOMETHING MORE ANNOYING TO WATCH.
12-08-2008 @ 3:12PM
Tom Pearson said...
When I was a boy it was very interesting to read but then like everything else they starting printing advertising on every page and most of it became ads. The content then sucked, what do they expect, now it is like 100 pages where 20 would do and is all advertinsing.
Screw them all......................
12-08-2008 @ 3:22PM
Jane said...
We miss the OLD TV Guide, without all the tabloid drivel, and the TV schedule printed large enought tou didn'tneed a magnifying glass. Who cares any more?
12-08-2008 @ 3:25PM
Tigre said...
I see no reason in buying the TV Guide and then having to pick it up everytime you want to know what's on is annoying (I know it sounds lazy buy oh well). If you have a cable box it's easier and quicker to push a button see what's on and go there. The only time the TGB is the better option is when it's vs the TV Guide channel. I hate that channel!
12-08-2008 @ 3:48PM
RoughAcres said...
I read TV Guide for decades, religiously... never missed an issue. At some point, the editors changed the format to include a lot more tabloid-type junk, hardly any interview material or in-depth reporting, with a format change to "hipper" style. I stopped reading it soon after, cancelled my subscription.
12-08-2008 @ 3:59PM
mountain3000 said...
TV Guide...TV Guide...Great God Almighty its a TV Guide...
Jimmy Buffett
from the song "Hotel Room"
12-08-2008 @ 4:28PM
Doina said...
So how about people who DO not have cable, or who like to learn about the tv program for one week? How about elderly people who rely on the guide? And yes, my family and I we miss the old guide. Now, this will disappear, too. Shame. My father is 82, watches tv day and night, follows the tv guide, and doesn't know a thing about e-mails ... Oh, yeah, he's old, right? But his money is good for the cable, right? Why should we overprice the importance of the Internet? Plenty of crap in there too.
12-08-2008 @ 4:29PM
trip said...
thats funny, for some reason i started getting tv guide and now they are sending me a notice to renew my subscription. I never bought a subscription to begin with!! so they plan on taking my money and running with it?? wow
12-08-2008 @ 4:33PM
fonsela said...
I subscribed to TV Guide for years. Then little by little they changed their format. First they got rid of actual daytime listings by putting "various programming." Then they went to a tabloid and got rid of daytime listings altogether. When my last subscription ran out, I didn't renew and I'm not sorry. The magazine said "for daytime listings" and for other info, consult tvguide.com. If I have to check the computer to find out what's on TV, what do I need the paper magazine for in the first place? I just wanted to know what was on TV at what time, not who went where on vacation or who is sleeping with whom and crap like that.
They did it to themselves and I'm glad they are having problems. They had a thriving magazine for decades. "If it ain't broke, don't fix it!"
12-08-2008 @ 5:06PM
Annee said...
I stopped getting TV guide when they made us get a Central Time zone version when we lived in the Eastern zone, only because it was "closer" to us. How useless is that?!
I do agree that the format was awful and hard to read.
However, I do think that advertisers are making a mistake tossing all their eggs into the internet basket. I hate internet ads and avoid them at all costs. Seeing how businesses are having so much trouble right now, hmm, maybe everyone is ignoring their obnoxious ads.
12-08-2008 @ 5:19PM
Debbie said...
I can see why it is folding. They don't give anough information on what in on TV. For those of us that are hadicapped, the TV guide is no use. Plus the times are off. So, I see what comes on from 4pm until 8pm and that is it. I loved the original TV guide, but those times are over. The newpaper TV times has more and correct information than the TV Guide.
12-08-2008 @ 5:41PM
L. Hillman said...
They really messed up the printed version when they did the new format. You used to be able to see what was on every hour of the day but forget anything before 7 or 8 pm now. We hate this new one.
12-08-2008 @ 5:55PM
David Frank said...
If TV Guide didn't lose track of what it was - TV Guide, and not People Magazine, then maybe they wouldn't be in the state that they are.
It was reformatted, and now only gives programming from 7:00pm until 11:00pm. Try to find a program at 10:00 in the morning or 2:00 in the afternoon, good luck. TV Guide deserves to go out of business. I'm not renewing.
12-08-2008 @ 6:04PM
milli illingworth said...
I subscribed because I wanted to know the programs in the morning and late at night. The TV Guide lists ONLY programs from 7:00pm to 10:30pm. Completely defeated my reason for subscribing!!!!
12-08-2008 @ 6:09PM
ro said...
if it would co-inside with the area u live in it would be great but it doesn't.
12-08-2008 @ 6:13PM
Jean said...
We had subscribed to TV Guide for over 30 years and dropped it when they went to the new format. At that time there were no day time listings, not even for Saturday and Sunday. We live in the mountain time zone but the listings were for the pacific time zone so were off by at least an hour and sometimes more. It was irritating to want to watch something and find out it started an hour earlier or will start an hour later. That was just local station, cable stations were even worse. The articles became more the tabloid type. Whomever decided to change the entire format and go to the larger format and then not list everything ruined the magazine. They deserve to fail.
12-08-2008 @ 6:19PM
sknookie said...
Here's the truth. TV Guide is outdated. If you have cable, it's already built in and with modern technology, you can search and program what you want.
The articles that are in TV guide aren't interesting enough to buy the magazine, unless you like the person on the cover. I would recommend Entertainment weekly instead. Sorry TV Guide!
12-08-2008 @ 6:23PM
Analyze This said...
Hello TV Guide? How about going back to the original format and make it fun to read again. The changes you made a few years ago did little to boost readership.
On the other hand, maybe TV Giude has become passe'!
12-08-2008 @ 6:35PM
heather said...
i dont even buy it anymore! if i want gossip i will buy star if i want star stories i will buy people! but for show listings the new format sucks! dont list all hours my sun paper insert is more coverage of whats on! they should have stuck with the tried and true old format.
12-08-2008 @ 10:48PM
L R Adams said...
The changes, format and articles are not very informative. It is like reading a phone book.