'TV Guide' unveils new format

USA TODAY, July, 2005 by David Lieberman and Laura Petrecca

NEW YORK -- The age of cable, satellite, TiVo and the Internet finally caught up with TV Guide.

The magazine's owner, Gemstar-TV Guide, said Tuesday that, beginning Oct.17, it will ditch the 52-year-old digest-sized magazine, loaded with local TV listings that required 140 separate editions.

It will be replaced by a full-size national magazine, in just two editions, with national network listings for the East and West coasts (only the TV times are different). Most pages will have feature stories about and photos of TV shows and celebrities.

The company's betting that viewers will prefer the new format, because so many now turn to on-screen program guides and other services for listings of the seemingly limitless offerings on cable and satellite. TV Guide "will be a better product, more targeted, more relevant, and we feel strongly that we're going to build a better business ...