- Details
-
Published on Sunday, 30 October 2011 16:59
The Chicago Sun-Times has dropped its long-running weekly television schedule section called TV Prevue, which featured the weekly TV grid. In its place, the Sun-Times will be offering the glossy, 44-page magazine TV Weekly Magazine, for an additional fee. The same is true for the Sun-Times' Chicago area sister publications.
The move is seen as a fix for the newspaper company which has been struggling financially for some time, as has most print media. By eliminating an entire weekly section, the Sun-Times looks to save money on printing costs and manpower. The TV section is now being replaced by a third-party company, who has experience in providing TV magazines for newspapers nationwide, and who will print these magazines up on their own presses, the cost of which will be passed on to those who wish to receive it.
The Chicagoland version of TV Weekly Magazine will be able to offer more depth than the Sun-Times' TV Prevue section has been able to in recent years. The magazine, which will have the words "Chicagoland" on the cover's corner, will offer more local & cable listings, an expanded channel guide, sports listings, alphabetical movie listings, exclusive articles about TV shows/personalities, interviews, and much more. Each week's magazine will also contain seven puzzles, including Sudoku and a crossword.
Sun-Times Media decided to partner with the publisher of TV Weekly Magazine, NTVB Media to offer this option to its readers of all of its Chicagoland newspapers. The Troy, Michigan-based NTVB Media has been in business since the mid-1980s and is the country's largest provider of TV magazines to the newspaper industry. TV Weekly Magazine has a circulation of almost 1 million customers. It is offered by newspaper publications in over 40 markets, including Los Angeles, Minneapolis, Atlanta and Detroit, as well as being sold nationally at retail outlets.
Chicago Sun-Times Publisher John Barron said in a statement this weekend: "TV Weekly is the best single source for viewing information that we've seen. Readers who sign up for this new offering will get a highly localized version specific to the Chicago region. People who love TV -- and like to plan -- will find that it's big, convenient and goes way beyond simple grid listings."
Sun-Times Media publications Chicago Sun-Times, SouthtownStar, Post-Tribune, Beacon-News, Naperville Sun, Courier-News, Lake County News-Sun, and Herald-News gave away free copies of TV Weekly Magazine in this weekend's newspaper. Each will be doing it again one more time next weekend. The weekly Pioneer Press and Doings newspapers did so last Thursday and will give away a second free TV Weekly Magazine next Thursday. After the free samples, the only way subscribers can receive the magazines with the newspapers will be to pay for an additional subscription for it.
For Sun-Times Media publications home delivery subscribers, the discounted cost will be $39 a year (which breaks down to .75 cents per weekly issue). Two-year subscriptions are available for an extra discount of $69.68 (which breaks down .67 cents per issue). For non-subscribers of Sun-Times Media newspapers, the cost is $51.48 per year (.99 cents per issue).
Those interested in subscribing can use the mail-in forms found inside each of the free samples, by calling 888-979-0123, or by signing up online at this link
HERE.
TV Weekly Magazine will be delivered to subscribers each Friday, beginning on November 11th.
It should be pointed out that for now, the Chicago Sun-Times will continue to print basic daily TV listings grids inside of its weekday newspapers.
