TV Guide To Continue TV Listings

Posted on June 15, 1998

TV Guide will not abandon its television listings, as has been incorrectly reported. The largest-selling weekly magazine in the country, TV Guide has a circulation of 13 million. The magazine was launched on April 3, 1953 and is currently celebrating its 45th Anniversary. In addition to television listings, TV Guide provides reporting on television's major issues, top trends and personalities

"Accurate television programming listings are the backbone of the new TV Guide branded products," said Anthea Disney, chairman and CEO of News America Publishing Group. "The vast listings database for TV Guide's current 182 regional editions will drive all of the new TV Guide products, including a cable-system-distributed full-size magazine. With the expansion of the magazine's listings service to on-screen and expanded online formats, TV viewers will be able to get TV Guide's trusted listings in various forms. Think of it as America's 'bible of television' creating a 'new testament.' But TV Guide magazine will continue to offer the comprehensive listings that 37 million readers rely on each week."

Thursday's announcement that the magazine is to be combined with United Video Satellite Group's Prevue Channel prompted discussion of the future of television listings. "Today marks the day that TV Guide is no longer just a magazine," Disney said Thursday. "It's a multi-platformed juggernaut." The renaming of the Prevue Channel as the TV Guide Channel will bring TV Guide's listings and editorial expertise to the pre-eminent on-screen source of television listings. The Prevue Channel reaches 50 million homes in the United States and 4 million overseas.