TV listings end today
The underlying factor is that fewer and fewer readers rely on the listings to know what’s on TV. That’s because on-screen TV listings are available to anyone who subscribes to cable or satellite services.
Additionally, the cost of the grids and the cost of publishing them in the paper continue to climb, especially with the soaring cost of newsprint.
‘This is a way we’ve identified to try to keep our subscription costs as low as possible,’ said Standard publisher Patricia Zechman. ‘We realize we do have some readers who still use the TV listings, and to those readers we apologize for any inconvenience. But with the cost of gas and the expenses for all our main services on the upswing, we thought this would be the best way to keep our core news product intact.’
As on-screen technology has advanced, the Standard has downsized its TV product. The TV Digest was eliminated in recent years and the TV listings were included in the classified section of the newspaper instead of a special section.