Whats on TV?

While looking for advertisers,

The Cultural Significance of TV Guide
By Eric Andrews
Introduction: TV Guide operates as a
nationwide full size, full color
entertainment magazine, but before
then, existed as a television listing
pamphlet that provided television listings
as well as information about television
programs. The information found in TV
Guide included information on television
programs, television listings, celebrities,
and the making of television programs.
The cultural impact of TV Guide pre-
computer era was tremendous.
Once a household magazine, TV
Guide has suffered through the rise of
technology and changes in media
culture. TV Guide could be found in any
supermarket across the United States
with a highly anticipated weekly
occurrence. The market TV Guide once
controlled is a rapidly decaying market,
but the cultural impact it has left behind
will remain forever.
Annenberg noticed that Philadelphias
TV Digest had a circulation of 180,000,
while similar, regional publications also
had impressive circulation numbers.
After realizing what he could create,
Annenberg purchased TV Digest, which
was based in Philadelphia, TV Forecast,
based in Chicago, and TV Guide from
New York and molded them together to
form TV Guide. The magazine became
a growing success and quickly spread
nationwide.
Many reasons contribute to the
near instant success of TV Guide. First,
Annenberg purchased other television
listing publications that were already
created to gain control of the market.
He created regional editions of the
magazine that listed the television
programs that were available in that
specific region. TV Guide no longer has
regional editions in the United States.

TV Guide has extended their

once magazine confined business to
their own name branded website and
television network which offers similar
services as the magazine itself. TV
Guide Network offers its own television
programs as well as a scrolling
television listing service at the bottom of
the television screen. Although the
magazine still exists, it may never have
the cultural impact as it once shared
with the American people.

History: The mastermind behind TV

Guide, Walter Annenberg, published the
first TV Guide on April 3rd, 1953.
Annenbergs Triangle Publications
published the Philadelphia Inquirer.
First Published TV Guide magazine featuring
Lucille Ball's baby Desi Arnaz Junior.
(http://apimages.ap.org)
 Annenberg also achieved
success because TV Guide offered
more than just television listings.
Television viewers could get listings for
free in their newspaper, but TV Guide
featured articles about the shows and
contained everything about television
subscribers would want to read. The
writers wrote positive articles and would
not write anything detrimental to a
certain show. However, they would
hype a certain show if it had a low
viewing audience and deserved
appraise. The television networks
enjoyed the attention their shows
received through TV Guide and it
definitely played a role in TV Guides
success.
Finally, advertising played a
substantial component in TV Guides
success. Television networks wanted
the maximum audience possible for their
shows and spent big bucks to persuade
subscribers to watch their show.
Advertisement placement in a television
listing magazine is just not as effective
with modern media. The advertisement
below is for The Duck Factory, which
aired on April 12, 1984 and starred Jim
Carey.
The Duck Factory Advertisement
(Platypuscomix.net)
The digests circulation would
reach around twenty million by 1970. In
1977, TV Guide would account for every
one in five magazines sold. The fifteen-
cent price tag was the equivalent of a
box of cereal and earned Annenberg
$500,000 to a million dollars per week.
TV Guide became a jackpot for
Annenberg.
Unfortunately the success of TV
Guide declined due to advances in
media technology and the demand for a
national television magazine publication
decreased. In August 1988, Walter
Annenberg and Rupert Murdoch met at
Annenburgs home near TV Guides
headquarters in Radnor, Pennsylvania
to make a deal. Annenberg made, at
the time, the largest magazine deal
ever, and sold TV Guide and all of
Triangle Publications to Murdoch and
News Corp for $3.2 billion. Veronis
Suhler, the man who brokered the sale,
referred to Annenberg as extraordinary.
He was a giant among men. TV
Guides circulation has declined to about
two million and has gone through many
changes of ownership since the sale to
Murdoch.
Cultural Significance:
TV Guide influenced television
greater than any other magazine
publication in American history. It
became a household name and
influenced television culture and the way
Americans viewed television. Television
viewers often picked the television
shows they watched as a result of TV
Guide. Walter Annenberg also made
extremely generous donations that
would influence Pennsylvanian and
American culture and became a
significantly important cultural icon.
 First, the cover of TV Guide
became a special part of television
culture. During the first decade of TV
Guide, photographs were mainly used
for the cover, but by 1970, illustrations
started to appear on just about every
other cover. Famous artists such as
Andy Warhol, Romare Bearden, and
Salvador Dali presented guest
illustrations while other artists worked
directly for TV Guide. Although Lucille
Balls baby, Desi Arnaz Junior, would
appear on the first magazine cover,
Lucille Ball appeared on almost fifty
issues of TV Guide. The cover of TV
Guide represented the stars of
American television at that time and
became very important to TV Guides
image.
The success of TV Guide and the
billions of dollars Walter Annenberg had
acquired almost as a direct result of the
magazine lead to even greater
achievements. Annenberg. Annenberg
became an ambassador to Britain under
the Richard Nixon Administration and
became famous among celebrities such
as Frank Sinatra, as well as other
United States presidents. Annenbergs
generous philanthropy contributed to his
fame and excellent reputation.
Walter Annenberg used
Annenberg School of Communications
Incorporated, based in Radnor,
Pennsylvania, and the sale of Triangle
Publications to Rupert Murdoch in 1988,
to boost previous contributions of about
$200,000 to about one billion dollars to
communications schools at the
University of Pennsylvania and the
University of Southern California. The
communication schools bear the
Annenberg name. He also supported a
religious studies center in Philadelphia
and an educational project in
Washington involving the Corporation
for Public Broadcasting. His main goal
was to help young, poor African
Americans become economically viable
through education. Some people think
they know more about how you should
spend your money than you do,
Annenberg stated.
However, the contributions above
were just part of everything Annenberg
has contributed. In December of 1993,
Annenberg topped his previous record
for educational donations of $365
million, set in June of 1992, and donated
$500 million for primary and secondary
education reform projects to be
dispersed over five years. "Like all of
you, I am so troubled at the growing
despair of so many young people,"
Annenberg said. "They aren't just
dropping out of school in many cases,
but many seem to be giving up on
America. And there's almost a direct
correlation, as we can notice, of
dropping out of school and leading this
life of despair, of violence, of poverty, of
spiritual numbness. Annenberg
believed that education would reduce
violence and increase. President
Clinton deemed Annenberg as someone
who "has challenged the rest of us to
match his efforts and stated that the gift
was a remarkable and truly wonderful
thing (that) could not have come at a
better time.
Annenbergs educational gifts
remain just a fraction of the amount he
has contributed to American society. He
has donated art with an estimated worth
of nearly a billion dollars to New York's
Metropolitan Museum of Art. He has
donated money to help improve the lives
of poor African Americans. In reality, he
has affected the lives of millions of
Americans. Annenberg died at the age
of ninety-four at his home in
Wynnewood, Pennsylvania on October
1, 2002 from sever pneumonia, but the
legacy he left behind will remain forever.
philanthropist's $500-million grant will
help advance a `standard of excellence.'
He believes troubled schools will find
remedies that have been successful
elsewhere :[Home Edition]. " Los
Angeles Times (pre-1997 Fulltext) 18
Dec. 1993,Los Angeles
Times, ProQuest. Web. 10 Jun. 2010.

"The Duck Factory." platypuscomix.net.

Works Cited: Web. 9 Jun 2010.
<http://www.platypuscomix.net/bored/tvg
By Richard Koenig. "Annenberg-Funded uideads4.html>.
Philanthropy to Get Big Cash Infusion
From Sale of Triangle. " Wall Street
Journal 15 Aug. 1988, Eastern edition:
ABI/INFORM Global, ProQuest. Web.
24 May. 2010.

Johnson, D.. "Don't Touch That Dial!

Tales of TV GUIDE. " Antiques &
Collecting Magazine
1 Sep. 2009: General Interest
Module, ProQuest. Web. 9 Jun. 2010.

Newman, Robert. "Classic TV Guide

Covers." SPD. N.p., 04/08/10. Web. 9
Jun 2010.
http://www.spd.org/2010/04/classic-tv-
guide-covers.php

New York Times (1923-Current file). Jan

17, 1953. p. 27 (1 page)

"REMEMBERING WALTER
ANNENBERG (1908-2002) AND HIS
"AUDACIOUS MOVE". " Media Industry
Newsletter 7 Oct. 2002: Research
Library Core, ProQuest. Web. 10 Jun.
2010.

ROBERT L. JACKSON. "Annenberg's

Education Gift Lauded by Clinton
Donation: President says the