Digital Journal — In six weeks, Canadians will no longer be able to buy the print version of TV Guide. Its ever-popular TV listings will only be available free online, which is a positive sign for cash-strapped couch potatoes and a warning sign for the mag industry.
Transcontinental Media is killing the printed TV Guide after its Nov. 25 issue, instead transitioning to a Web publication that will feature similar articles and listings on TVGuide.ca. “After thorough research into brand development for TV Guide, we have determined that the long-term market potential for the print magazine is limited,” said Francine Tremblay, senior vice president of consumer publishing, in a statement, “Ubiquitous on-screen program guides through digital or satellite services and the Internet have changed the way people choose what to watch on TV.”
The move to the online platform doesn’t come as a surprise. Paid TV listings have faced a huge obstacle trying to trump the widespread use newspaper supplement TV magazines and free online listings. But the strange thing about TV Guide‘s decision is that the publication attempted a Web version three years ago. Then they killed it, firing the online staff. Do they think times are different now?
Evidently they are, since a quick tour through magazine websites proves how integral it is for media to look to the Web to survive. Magazines are not dying out — save those presumptions for the pajama-clad bloggers — but they have to adapt in the progressive marketplace. TV Guide understands the need to get online quick, since many TV lovers are already jumping on the Web to find out what to watch.
The only fly in this soup, though, is the staff cuts that will inevitably slash through Transcontinental. Plus, what impulse buy will shoppers opt for at the checkout counter once TV Guide magazine goes the way of the dodo?
