TV Guide, an iconic magazine for two generations of Americans, is radically remaking itself into a title with a much smaller circulation, a larger, full-color format, fewer listings and more stories about TV shows and stars.

The magazine has struggled to stay relevant in an era where more people look up TV listings online or through on-screen programming guides from their cable and satellite TV providers. TV Guide's parent company, Gemstar-TV Guide International Inc., is also a major provider of those guides and the technology they use.

The revamp, which the company announced early Tuesday, calls for the magazine to slash the circulation it guarantees advertisers by nearly two-thirds, from 9 million to 3.2 million.

The magazine will also ditch its digest-sized format in favor of a full-size, full-color format with more stories about TV shows than listings. The new magazine will have 75 percent stories and 25 percent listings, the reverse of the ratio it has now.

TV Guide also said it would cut jobs as part of the revamp, but it declined say how many. The changes will go into effect with the magazine's Oct. 17 issue.

--Sounds like it's going to be not-so-guide-like.

Posted by: Lawrenkm at 07:47 AM | No Comments | Add Comment
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