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TV Guide Channel to ditch listings

jal41

jal41

http://www.mediapost.com/publications/?fa=Articles.showArticle&art_aid=103339
http://www.tvweek.com/news/2009/04/tv_guide_channel_expands_manda.php

Say goodbye to the channel that was once EPG and The Prevue Channel. Lionsgate is going to rebrand the channel, ditch the scrolling listings (and I assume the related headend computer equipment), and air movies and other entertainment programs.

I figured this would happen...thanks to set-top IPG's and the Internet.

UPDATE: Mediacom appears to be ditching TV Guide Channel period. No move to digital - just taking it off.
 
With the magazine ditching local listings in recent years, it appears the circle is complete.

They might as well just change the channel to "?". Or better yet, "SyFy".

Nice knowing ya. Say hi to "Nick Gas" and "Mojo HD" for me.
 
In my area with Charter standard cable, only the top part of the TV Guide Network channel is blackout but the audio is still on. It has been like this before, then went back to normal for a brief time, and now it's been blackout for a while now. It doesn't really bother me since the majority of their programming was reality tv-related or infomercials but the listings are still there for now. The NASA channel also seems a bit screw-up with blocky pictures and compressed audio. Every other channels are acting normal so I don't know exactly what the deal is.

I wonder if anybody else is noticing their TV Guide or NASA channels acting this way.
 
Ken said:
Will tvguide.com still show listings? If not their are other websites zap2it.com
Click to expand...
titantv.com has good listings with minimal amount of ads to wade through to get to the channel logs.
 
Agreed with Robnoxious. I sometimes shudder nowadays when I go to Zap2it because they are one of the hundreds of websites that carry that obnoxious, multi-colored "Do You Know Your Credit Score? Find Out INSTANTLY!" banner ad. Yeesh!
 
titantv.com also seems to be up to speed on the OTA subchannels available (at least it does for the LA market) if that floats your boat.
 
What about in Canada? Did they have the EPG's, Prevue Guide & TV guide channel there like they did in this country, as far as I know?
 
DToTheJ said:
With the magazine ditching local listings in recent years, it appears the circle is complete.
Click to expand...

Though in recent months, Lionsgate bought only the TV Guide Channel and the website -- the magazine went to different owners.

DToTheJ said:
I sometimes shudder nowadays when I go to Zap2it because they are one of the hundreds of websites that carry that obnoxious, multi-colored "Do You Know Your Credit Score? Find Out INSTANTLY!" banner ad. Yeesh!
Click to expand...

Thank god for ad blockers -- I very rarely see that crap on my computer these days.

dgendvil said:
What about in Canada? Did they have the EPG's, Prevue Guide & TV guide channel there like they did in this country, as far as I know?
Click to expand...

Not TV Guide Channel, as the TV Guide name was owned by a different publisher, though I would imagine cable companies in Canada having their own EPG channel similar to Prevue.

After Prevue became TV Guide Channel in the US, it was still marketed in Canada under the "Prevue" name, for the above reason. I also would imagine that it remained strictly an EPG channel with promos -- no entertainment programming like TVGC.
 
If they are ditching the listings, how can they call themselves TV Guide? I mean how can they guide the viewers through TV without listings? There should be a re-branding and name change for this crap. Almost like TNN became Spike. TV Guide should be called something like Alice or something.
 
1069_KIFR said:
If they are ditching the listings, how can they call themselves TV Guide? I mean how can they guide the viewers through TV without listings? There should be a re-branding and name change for this crap. Almost like TNN became Spike. TV Guide should be called something like Alice or something.
Click to expand...

A name change will be part of the deal. They also will begin airing movies from the Lionsgate library. They apparently will use the TV Guide branding for some of the entertainment news programming that might be held over. But for all intents and purposes, the channel is no more.

http://adage.com/mediaworks/article?article_id=135721

One option that may occur is the rebirth of the original EPG "listings only" service, with the listingsless TV Guide Network on digital tiers. One cable exec basically said that the changes constitute breach of contract.

Zap2it does offer a TV channel with just listings from what I heard. Bright House and a couple of other providers offer this as an option.

I don't think Mediacom will be the only provider dropping TV Guide Network when all is said and done.
 
Might someone else start or switch a network into a tv listing channel? I kind of doubt it as people with digital tv and dish it shows the listings in the guide. I just have regular cable and I never really look at TV Guide Channel which is on channel 97.
 
Ken said:
Might someone else start or switch a network into a tv listing channel? I kind of doubt it as people with digital tv and dish it shows the listings in the guide. I just have regular cable and I never really look at TV Guide Channel which is on channel 97.
Click to expand...

That's the thing that concerns me as well. Cable companies presumably make loads more by renting DVR boxes than putting the listings on a channel. In my city, a DVR box is $22 per month by itself...that's half the cost of our standard cable package right there. Will be interesting to see how cable responds to this.
 
Newer TVs have a cable card which all you need is a special card and you get digital cable without the box which shows the information of what show is on and coming on next. Its to bad when they came out with these DVR boxes that you can't hook a cable wire to them which for older sets you would be able to see information but their wouldn't be a way for digital cable to come in just the regular channels.
 
1069_KIFR said:
If they are ditching the listings, how can they call themselves TV Guide? I mean how can they guide the viewers through TV without listings? There should be a re-branding and name change for this crap. Almost like TNN became Spike. TV Guide should be called something like Alice or something.
Click to expand...
Does TV Guide the magazine have much in the way of listings anymore?
 
Morgan Wick said:
Does TV Guide the magazine have much in the way of listings anymore?
Click to expand...

I never picked up a "new" TV Guide (the last local Atlanta Edition in 2005 is the last one I ever touched), but it apparently is just grid listings, with 90% of the magazine dedicated to entertainment stories.
 
Does TV Guide the magazine have much in the way of listings anymore?
Click to expand...

Only for primetime, and it seems even that can't be done intelligently. Only a couple months before they made the idiotic decision to ditch the CW and MTV's listings in order to make room for something like Disney XD or one of those lower-tier networks that air nothing but public domain films and TV. They brought them back after a bunch of angry emails, but the damage was done. They don't even have many highlights sections anymore, and they never do anything like cover the supporting actors of shows, just the stars.
 
I'm not quite sure why TV Guide seems to think that listings aren't an important part of what they do anymore. I know that Internet and digital boxes have huge penetration now, but still, the majority of the TV-viewing population can be served by a listings channel. This may be a decision that Lionsgate ends up regretting. Honestly, I can't say that I ever consciously watch any of the programming on TV Guide Network. Sometimes it's noisy enough to get me to look at it for a minute. If they ditch the listings then there's no point to tuning in.
 
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