Last issue of TV Week
My newspaper column
The last issue of TV Week, our weekly television guide, was delivered Saturday.
Beginning next Saturday, the daily listings in the Life section will feature more channels and expanded hours to help you decide what to watch.
The daily list will include 62 channels, an increase of 14 and equaling the number in TV Week. We are also expanding the time frame for which we list programs, from 9 a.m. until midnight. Currently, the daily listing runs from 8 p.m. to midnight. Sports events on television will be on the daily listings grid and are on page C2 in the Sports section.
We continued to publish TV Week as long as we did because we know that some of you rely on it. But the tipping point came as its readership continued to decline, its cost continued to rise, and on-screen cable guides grew in popularity.
The reality is that technology and the marketplace have squeezed TV Week for years. As the number of channels ran into the hundreds, the weekly guide simply couldn't keep up. Meanwhile, people have found other convenient ways to get the information they want. Cable subscribers can use an on-screen guide. Others use online guides, such as we provide at GoTriad.com/tv. Many people already use the daily primetime listings in the paper.
We aren't the first newspaper to drop the weekly TV guide, and we won't be the last. It is a sign of the times.
We know this change may upset some readers who like the convenience of a weekly list of programs. We hope our beefed-up daily listings will be helpful to both TV Week readers and to those who use the daily program guide in the paper.
***
On Wednesday, we will publish our annual Scholastic Achievement section, celebrating the best and brightest public high school students in the area.
Every year the News & Record awards a total of $14,000 in college scholarships to four high school seniors. The special section announces the winners and features each of 30 area high schools' all-academic team. In all, nearly 350 students participated this year.
In 1990, News & Record leaders were looking for a unique way to celebrate the paper's centennial and to invest in the community’s future. As a newspaper, we have a passion for public education, and we wanted to honor academic excellence in the region’s schools.
Here's how we select these outstanding students: We ask guidance counselors at each public school in our circulation area to select teams of outstanding scholars from the 10th, 11th and 12th grades. They make up their school's academic team. One senior is chosen as the school’s nominee.
Al Barnett Jr., a financial adviser with Peoples Financial, and C. Vickie Kilimanjaro, co-publisher of The Carolina Peacemaker, reviewed the nominations, interviewed 12 finalists and selected the scholarship winners.
I had the privilege of sitting in on the interviews, and I didn't envy their task. Each student was exceptional and deserving. If we can ensure they return to the Triad after college, the community's future will be in good hands.
John Robinson is editor of the News & Record. Contact him at jrobinson@news-record.com or 373-7051. Join him in a conversation about journalism at The Editor’s Log at News-Record.com.
Comments (10)
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This decision is worst one ever made by the N&R . Many of my friends, neighbors and church memebers are very disturbed over this change and would just as soon see you drop the daily TV listing rather than the weekly format which gives advance notice of program schedules , so for instance if you are going to be away from home and see a show you would like to tape , you have notice and time to do it . Or if you see on Saturday that on Wedneday there are two programs you would like to view that are going to shown at the same time on different channels you can plan accordinly. The N&R weekly TV guide has been at my easy chair fot 25 years and an old friend. YES it IS convenient. That is waht I am paying for , damnit !The online guides that you mention are difficult if not impossible to navigate. They are NOT handy as the small, condensed and easy to read N&R weekly guide. It is one of the primary reasons many folks take the N&R . Upset..you betcha...angry is an understatement. I trust you will reconsider this ill advised move and restore the weekly guide to your loyal consumers. I forsee your " beefed up " listings adding such popular rthings as the Rugy cannel, Chess 24/7 and other such nonsense. Not a good deal at all or a fair exchange. This arbritary act may in the long run cost you in terms of already declining subscribers.
Thank you
Posted on June 2, 2008 5:21 PM
Dropping Saturday purchase of two papers (self and mother). So put us down amongst those who are disapointed with your "slick" attempt to expand your circulation.
Posted on June 7, 2008 6:50 PM
Were it actually an attempt to increase circulation, it would have been slicker than that. The cost of publishing the book simply became to great for us to carry when it had fewer and fewer readers. I regret that because I know that people like you relied on it.
Posted on June 8, 2008 8:14 AM
I understand the reason for your dropping the TV Week section, but I don't like it. The print is so small that we baby boomers may have to use a magnifying glass to read it easily and not knowing what is coming up in the week ahead means we can't plan to record shows we don't want to miss. We also appreciated your brief comments about some shows and whether the broadcast is "N or R". Could we have a TV Week on line which would be availabe to print for those who are interested?
Of course, today (Sunday June 8th) the guide was repeated 9am to 4 pm on the second half of the page so we have no idea what will be on in the evening except the Celtics game at 9:00pm.
Posted on June 8, 2008 11:58 AM
John, please refer to Marcia Abernathy's comments. Now, please go online and duplicate what would have been in the TV Guide for June 8, 2008. Then post it in your blog so we will know what's on TV tonight. And, since tonight's listings weren't included in this morning's paper, we need you to get this done before 4:00!
Then, let us know how long it took you to accomplish this.
Posted on June 8, 2008 3:34 PM
Ditto all of the above comments..the tv supplement was one of the few reasons to continue with the paper..When you push to go online for content it becomes not worth the cost to continue with the paper.
Posted on June 8, 2008 6:25 PM
Your paper has made counterproductive moves in the past to contain costs (i.e., dropping the NYTimes columnists), only to backpedal shortly thereafter. Hopefully you'll receive enough criticism for this goofy move that you'll do likewise once again. Those dreadfully slow onscreen guides are useless for looking ahead a day or two, as is your new format. As it is, your daily becomes less a newspaper and more a newsletter each day: lighter, thinner, less filling.
Now more than ever it's time to switch to the WinstonSalem Journal. By the way, nice work on Sunday's edition, "Day Two" of your delightful new format, printing the 9am-4pm schedule twice, leaving out primetime. Best of luck with your new business plan.
Posted on June 10, 2008 10:35 AM
I didn't see an answer to the comment about having the TV schedule available on line so we can print it ourselves.
M. ruskin
Posted on June 15, 2008 10:52 AM
Go to www.gotriad.com/tv and type in your zip code.
Posted on June 15, 2008 12:20 PM
I'm just disgusted. You took out the highlight of the week for many of us. I can't see that it would take all that extra money to just publish the weekly guide! Why can't you cut out something else instead?
Posted on June 22, 2008 6:28 PM