TV Guide
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Tv_guide_logo.png
TV Guide logo
Tv_guide_50_greatest.jpg
TV Guide cover of the 50 Greatest TV Characters Ever, which includes a photo of Spock
TV Guide is the name of two North American weekly magazines about TV programming, one in the United States and one in Canada. Although the magazines share the same name and logo, they are owned by different companies and publish distinct editorial content.
The bulk of the publications consist of localized TV listings. They also feature television-related news, celebrity interviews, gossip and reviews.
United States
The national TV Guide was first published on April 3, 1953. Its premiere issue cover featured a photograph of Lucille Ball and Desi Arnaz's newborn son, Desi Arnaz, Jr.
In the 1990s, TV Guide acquired the Prevue Channel and renamed it the TV Guide Channel. Like its predecessor, it scrolls TV listings on the bottom portion of the screen. However the top portion now features celebrity gossip, movie talk, and commercials In addition to the movie trailers that once took up the bulk of the Prevue Channel's programing. Unlike most TV channels, the programs on the TV Guide Channel generally only last from 30 seconds to a minute, and thus are usually scheduled to play on the hour (for instance a show might appear at 12:45 and again at 1:45).
TV Guide is owned by Gemstar, which is in turn owned partially by News Corporation.
Canada
For many years, the Canadian edition of TV Guide shared editorial content with the American version. Beginning in the late 1970s, however, the magazine split off on its own and today publishes completely different stories, often with a Canadian focus. The magazine, which otherwise uses the same logo as the American version, is published by Transcontinental Media. In 2004, the magazine changed its format from a digest size similar to the American version to a larger format (similar in size to a comic book). With the change in format came the decision by the magazine to no longer print 24-hour listings; overnight programming is left off in order to focus on more frequently viewed hours.
External link
- TV Guide's website (http://www.tvguide.com)