[mbriant]

I don't know if this is just in Canada or an international thing, but this week's TV Guide magazine is the last to be published in Canada. For as long as I can remember, the weekly TV Guide was as common and well-known as Reader's Digest, perhaps more-so. Many predicted it's demise years ago when newspapers started publishing their own free TV listing supplements, but somehow TV guide managed to survive. However, increased advertising competition and ever-increasing printing/fulfillment costs .... combined with the fact that interactive on-screen listings put out by most cable and satellite TV providers have pretty much made TV guide both archaic and redundant .... have finally taken their toll.

RIP TV Guide

+

 

[socrates63]

When I was a kid, I remember picking one up every week or so when I went to the grocery with my parents. I haven't bought an issue for more than twenty years, but it always did remind me of my childhood TV watching days whenever I saw it displayed in grocery stores.

RIP TV Guide. Times are changing, that's for sure, and you did well.

 

[discord]

Death to the TV Guide!

Poor trees.

 

[Head Creep]

Apparently this is only limited to Canada (source). It's not dead, 'tis only a flesh wound.

 

[will75]

It's only a matter of time before it happens in the states. I'd imagine their demographic skews toward the elderly.

 

[Bob_McBob]

Quote:

Originally Posted by will75 /img/forum/go_quote.gif It's only a matter of time before it happens in the states. I'd imagine their demographic skews toward the elderly.

Even old people often use the free one that comes with the newspaper. It's not like the little articles in TV Guide are a particularly compelling reason to keep buying it. I use this site to keep track of the shows I watch, and a free online TV listings place if I ever want to know what's on.

 

[mbriant]

Quote:

“TV Guide has served communities across Canada well for 30 years and as the listings landscape is changing, TV Guide is evolving along with it,” said Transcontinental president Natalie Larivière in a statement.

You'd think the head guy would have a better grasp of his magazine's history. It's definitely been going much longer than 30 years.

 

[Aman]

Quote:

Originally Posted by mbriant /img/forum/go_quote.gif You'd think the head guy would have a better grasp of his magazine's history. It's definitely been going much longer than 30 years.

But perhaps not for longer than 30 years in Canada.

 

[mbriant]

Quote:

But perhaps not for longer than 30 years in Canada.

We used to sell them in the variety store I worked at in 1969 ... and I definitely remember the magazine being at my home more than 5 years before that. For the longest time the U.S. and Canadian editions had identical covers and stories, but the cover price was different, the listings were area-specific, and the Canadian edition carried both U.S. and Canadian advertisements. Perhaps that's what he's referring to ... 30 years from the time the Canadian edition became completely autonomous.

The tattered polaroid below was taken by me in 1972. That's my old variety store boss behind the cash register, with TV Guide prominently displayed on the counter beside him. We'd sell out every week and people would get quite upset if they didn't manage to get a copy. Notice the $0.10 gum. Man, I'm old.