Do you rely on TV listings in the paper anymore?
August 31, 2008
In the modern world of accessing information on the internet, this could apply to the newspaper industry in general. However, I’ll keep it geared towards the TV listings that come with the Sunday paper. Are they as important to you as they used to be? You can now access listings from tvguide.com or my favorite zap2it.com. I still tend to check out the listings called “TV Week” in the Sunday Erie Times-News and notice a few things about the listings. One is that they are still geared towards the over the air analog and cable TV crowd. Second, there is absolutely no information regarding the changeover to digital TV for over the air viewers. Information regarding converter boxes and channel locations would help to further inform the viewer that a change is coming. In a few months, this will be the only way viewers will be able to watch most over the air stations and they could be left scrambling without their favorite programs. Most digital stations in Erie do carry the same programs as their analog counterparts but WQLN occasionally carries different programs on their analog and digital stations. However, you wouldn’t know that if you only relied on the Sunday paper for listings. I’d list the 3 Erie stations that currently carry over the air HD programming separately from the analog listings. Also mention that the same stations are available on Time Warner cable and their channel locations there. But again, is this really something to worry about in a time when most people rely on the internet for TV listings? I think it is for the sake of those who do not even have a computer. Your thoughts are welcome here.