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TV Guide To Become Full-Size
Magazine To Slash Circulation, Cut Cover Price
POSTED: 7:13 am PDT July 26,
2005
UPDATED: 7:19 am PDT July 26,
2005
NEW YORK -- TV Guide is remaking itself. The long-time resource for television viewers is slashing the circulation it guarantees advertisers by about two-thirds and is relaunching itself as a large format magazine.The new magazine, which will launch with the Oct. 17 issue, will have far fewer TV listings and more emphasis on lifestyle and entertainment.
TV Guide said it hopes the new magazine will appeal to a younger, more targeted audience. TV Guide said it will cut jobs as part of the revamp, but it did not say how many. The radical changes to TV Guide come as it struggles to remain relevant in an age where many television viewers get their TV listings from on-screen guides provided by their cable companies or on the Internet. As part of the changes, TV Guide's parent company, Gemstar-TV Guide International, said it expects to lose up to $110 million in its 2005 and 2006 fiscal years.That loss includes those revolving around its recently launched Inside TV, a celebrity magazine for younger viewers."We're boldly transforming TV Guide magazine into a weekly full-size, feature-rich TV entertainment and guidance magazine that will better serve the needs of today's readers and advertisers," said Rich Battista, CEO of Gemstar-TV Guide International, Inc."With this transformation, we believe the magazine will be a more relevant and vital part of viewers' lives for years to come," said Battista.TV Guide said it would lower its cover price to $1.99 from $2.49 as part of an effort to build up newsstand sales, which are more profitable than subscription sales. The magazine will also triple its lowest introductory price of 25 cents an issue for subscribers. The company said it expects the relaunched TV Guide magazine to become profitable in about three years.
Distributed by Internet Broadcasting Systems, Inc. The Associated Press contributed to this report. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.








