TV Guide's attempt to dump its digest format and listings to become a full-size entertainment magazine has led to a huge hemorrhaging of readers. Compared to the year earlier period, it lost
about 5 million when the magazine trimmed its subscriber rolls as part of its radical makeover. According to the most recent report from the Audit Bureau of Circulations,
TV Guide has a
circulation of 3,718,175--a decline of 59 percent for the six-month period ending June 30. That has dropped the magazine to just behind
People. That's still a comfortable 518,000 over its 3.2
million rate base, and the magazine says it has no plans to slash its rate base again. About 3 million of the old rate base were sponsored sales, copies given out in hotels rooms and such. With that
gone, the magazine should, in theory, be more attractive to advertisers. But it is too early to tell if the new format will succeed, given how crowded the entertainment/celebrity category is.
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