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Something happened 15 years ago this week that hasn’t happened since - and likely never will again. After decades on the newsstand and in your mailbox, the last ever Canadian print edition of TV Guide was published. It was the week of Nov. 25th, 2006 that the television icon saw the writing on the wall, officially making the decision to shut down the long running magazine in favour of a free online presence.
And with that, the familiar “TV Guide” magazine disappeared, apparently for good, from this side of the border. (TV Guide is still published in the U.S but the local editions have long since vanished. It’s a shadow of its former self, with one listing for the entire country and few program details. The full-size magazine is also a lot less extensive than the 15-cent digest most of us remember. And with its two weeks of listings, it now sells for $4.99 an issue!)
TV Guide had been a staple in this country since 1953. When Telemedia took it over (and later TC Transcontinental) the quality went downhill. In addition to eschewing the U.S. articles that made it so interesting, they added things like horoscopes and recipes - none of which I felt belonged in a magazine devoted to television.
The final Canuck print edition made note of the milestone, promising to carry on. But the nature of the web and an inability to pull in enough ad dollars doomed the effort, although it lasted in one form or another under its original name until 2014. The URL “tvguide.ca” now links to a site called Complete TV Guide - but it hasn’t been updated since January 1, 2019.
Here’s a look at a few pages from the last printed Canadian TV Guide before its final sign-off.
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Sad to see an abandoned site, claiming to be "under construction", perhaps since 2019, as RA has already pointed out.
"TV listings in Canada. Apologies as our TV listing service is under construction. In the meantime, please use the below resources to find your local listings."
Last edited by Radiowiz (November 25, 2021 3:38 am)
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The first Issue of TV Guide to arrive in Canada was June 26, 1953. Only five channels were listed in the "New York/Ontario" edition which was published until 1955.WSYR-3 Syracuse, WBEN-4 Buffalo, WHAM-5 [Now WROC] Rochester, WHEN-8 Syracuse and CBLT-9 Toronto.
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I guess about the last printed TV guide must be in the Toronto Star with Starweek. The Globe, and Toronto Sun dropped their guides years ago. I believe the National Post had a guide for the first few years. The Guelph Mercury was still printing TV Times which came free with every Friday newspaper. The Mercury folded back in January 2016. The Kitchener Record still offers a printed guide as well but you pay for. It has a smaller page format (similar to the old TV Guide) and on better stock paper, slightly glossy.
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Almost forgot this. It appeared in that final print issue in 2006 and you have to wonder what might have been if this cartoon show ever actually got made. (This was long before his political aspirations. But as it turns out, Showtime in the U.S. did make one, called Our Cartoon President. It ran from 2018-2020.)
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mace wrote:
The first Issue of TV Guide to arrive in Canada was June 26, 1953. Only five channels were listed in the "New York/Ontario" edition which was published until 1955.WSYR-3 Syracuse, WBEN-4 Buffalo, WHAM-5 [Now WROC] Rochester, WHEN-8 Syracuse and CBLT-9 Toronto.
I don't have a Lake Ontario edition for 1953, but here are the channels from an August 1954 version.
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paterson1 wrote:
I guess about the last printed TV guide must be in the Toronto Star with Starweek. The Globe, and Toronto Sun dropped their guides years ago. I believe the National Post had a guide for the first few years. The Guelph Mercury was still printing TV Times which came free with every Friday newspaper. The Mercury folded back in January 2016. The Kitchener Record still offers a printed guide as well but you pay for. It has a smaller page format (similar to the old TV Guide) and on better stock paper, slightly glossy.
The Toronto Sun still publishes a tv guide. It is only available to subscribers and must be requested. Cost is $2 month.