TV Guide Magazine

Mondo Times editors    Boulder Colorado USA

Posted at 1:21pm on Saturday, June 6th, 2009

The CEO of TV Guide magazine has resigned, and not in a happy way, the New York Post reported on June 3, 2009:

"Scott Crystal, the TV Guide CEO who resigned over the weekend after weeks of mounting tension with the magazine's new owners, has fired off an e-mail to his former colleagues claiming the current owners are engaged in a "self-enrichment" scheme that will siphon away millions from the money-losing magazine.

And he's threatening to carry his dispute into court.

The e-mail, which one insider described as "a nuclear bomb," provides his version of the events that led to his sudden departure and accuses investment firm Open Gate of paying itself advisory fees that could amount to millions of dollars a year.

Crystal, who had been with the magazine for six years through three different owners, resigned late Friday."

The full story:
http://www.nypost.com/seven/06032009/business/ex_tv_guide_chief_launches_nuclear_missi_172274.htm

Eric Kallgren    Boulder, Colorado USA

Posted at 4:47pm on Tuesday, January 6th, 2009

On January 6, 2009, the Los Angeles Times reported that Lionsgate Entertainment will buy the TV Guide cable network and web site from Macrovision:

"In a surprise move, Lionsgate Entertainment Corp. agreed Monday to buy TV Guide Network and TVGuide.com for $255 million, torpedoing a deal announced just over two weeks ago with media entrepreneur Allen Shapiro and a private equity unit of JPMorgan Chase & Co.

The purchase from Macrovision Solutions Corp. is expected to significantly expand Lionsgate's cable holdings and reach, giving the Santa Monica studio one of the most widely distributed cable networks in the United States.

The TV Guide Network is available in 83 million homes and has an established brand name, yet previous owners including Rupert Murdoch's News Corp. failed to make it a major player.

Showbiz news is dominated by rival channels such as E Entertainment and syndicated programs such as "Entertainment Tonight" and "Access Hollywood."

Lionsgate Chief Executive Jon Feltheimer has plans to change all that.

"We want to turn this into a billion-dollar asset," said Feltheimer, whose movie and television studio produces the "Saw" and "Tyler Perry" movie franchises and the popular TV series "Mad Men" and "Weeds," among others.

Eric Kallgren    Boulder, Colorado USA

Posted at 12:38pm on Thursday, October 16th, 2008

Writing on the Folio Magazine web site on October 16, 2008, Jason Fell dropped this little bomb about the recent sale of TV Guide magazine, reporting that the magazine sold for... one dollar. As in, one dollar not for one copy of the magazine, but the entire print business. It's an interesting indicator of the state of the consumer magazine business in general, which is dire:

"...according to SEC filings, OpenGate purchased the magazine for $1, less than half the cost of a single copy of the magazine.

"As part of the financial terms, Macrovision will loan OpenGate up to $9.5 million at 3 percent interest. For now, Macrovision will keep TVGuide.com.

"According to the most recent Publishers Information Bureau figures, ad revenue at TV Guide was mostly flat through the third quarter at $154.7 million, up 2.4 percent. Ad pages, however, were down 7 percent in comparison to the same period last year."