• Mediaweek, Tuesday, June 2, 2009 10 AM

TV Guide's recently replaced CEO Scott Crystal is accusing the magazine's private equity owners of raiding the company and hastening its decline. Crystal says he resigned from the company last weekend and has filed legal notice that he's preparing to sue Open Gate Capital for breach of contract.

"The [owners] are putting the business at risk by hastening the reduction of cash from a business that's losing money. It's unconscionable," Crystal charges. Yesterday he told staff via email that his responsibility was to "not allow the ongoing raids of our corporate cash balances by Open Gate." He says that starting last March he opposed the "owners' demand for payments to pay for Open Gate costs and refused to authorize their monthly checks."

The iconic entertainment magazine has been operating under three different owners in the past year while fighting to regain profitability. In recent months, the magazine has cut staff, trimmed its rate base 9.4%, and reduced its frequency to six fewer issues a year.

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