Initially, the magazine was only available in 10 cities. The first expansion of cities to receive TV Guide later in 1953 included San Francisco, Detroit, Cleveland and Pittsburgh. Eventually, 140 local editions would be published weekly until July 26, 2005 when the National Editions were introduced. The first edition available in Canada was the "New York/Lake Ontario" Edition on June 26, 1953. Only five channels were listed including WSYR-3 Syracuse, WBEN-4 Buffalo, WHAM-5 [now WROC] WHEN-8 [now WTVH-5] and CBLT-9. Sometime in 1957, the "St.Lawrence" edition was introduced which covered Ottawa, Montreal, Burlington, Vt. and Plattsburg, N.Y. The "Dakota/Winnipeg" edition was the third to arrive in early 1961. By 1965, there were editions to cover B.C, Alberta, Saskatchewan and Western Ontario.  Did you know that the logo changed only three times in its first 35 years? 1953-62, 1962-68, 1968-88. It has changed another six times since then. 

mace wrote:

Some more TV Guide fun facts. The "Color" rectangle was introduced in 1956 to indicate the several programs available that were not in black and white. By 1969, only a "C" was used to indicate a colour program. In 1972, it was eliminated and replaced with a "B&W" for the few series not broadcast in colour. Who holds the record for most TV Guide cover appearances? 1. Lucille Ball-39.  2. Johnny Carson-28. 3. Mary Tyler Moore/Michael Landon-27.

I enjoy your posts. You are a great source of information.

Thanks for posting RA. Several thoughts. In the Pittsbugh guide, ch 2 was not KDKA. Those call letters would not surface until 1955. Where is CKVR? They signed on in Sept 1955. The 1956 issue still had no listing for them. Perhaps with all the Toronto antennas pointed to Buffalo, nobody could receive the channel, so no point in adding their program schedule yo the listings.

Thanks RA and mace for all the neat info and pictures on an iconic publication.

While reading i had a flashback to being 10 years old, getting my hands on the new issue, going through it and being excited to see a show or movie i really wanted to watch only to feel crushing disappointment when I realized it was on an American channel not available in my area or it was listed on a station we could watch in Montreal but was on past my bedtime.

And as an adult picking up the new issue at the front cash while grocery shopping, and over a coffee at home circling programs in the guide so I wouldn't miss them including those special occasion moments like every Easter, the yearly airing on ABC or CBS of the incredibly long because of all the commercial breaks classic movie "The Ten Commandments."

Last edited by betaylored (April 6, 2023 9:37 pm)

I seem to recall in later years when the Oshawa/Peterboro and Hamilton/Niagara editions were introduced, the Buffalo, Erie and Rochester channels had a black on white bullet. The Canadian channels were white on black.