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TV GUIDE

Annenberg's Idea

In 1952 Walter Annenberg, the president of Triangle Publications, the publisher of the Philadelphia Inquirer and Daily Racing Form, had a brain-storm. Astounded by the success of the TV Digest, a Philadelphia area publication featuring television listings—circulation exceeded 180,000—Annenberg's idea was to launch a national publication that promised local television listings while offering national editorial and advertising scope.

Local Magazines

Inquiring whether other such magazines existed across the country, he was told that TV Guide in New York had circulation exceeding 400,000 and that TV Forecast in Chicago reached 100,000 readers. So Annenberg bought them at a cost of several million dollars. TV Digest, TV Guide, and TV Forecast became the first three local bureaus of TV Guide. More bureaus were signed up by franchising the national section of TV Guide to local magazines in Boston; Davenport, Iowa; Minneapolis; and Wilkes-Barre, Pennsylvania. Teams were sent to Los Angeles and Cincinnati to start local operations from scratch.

The First Issue

By the end of March 1953, four months after Annenberg's initial idea, ten cities were equipped for TVGuide; The magazine was first published on 3 April 1953. The cover of the first issue, which cost fifteen cents, featured a photograph of Desi Arnaz, Jr., Lucille Ball's recently born baby, whose birth was fictionalized as that of Little Ricky on the 19 January 1953 episode of "I Love Lucy."

Early Pullback and Growth

The inaugural issue sold 1.56 million copies in ten cities. During summer 1953 five new city editions were added in Rochester, New York; Pittsburgh; Detroit; Cleveland; and San Francisco. Sales, however, slumped after the initial rush. By mid August circulation was nearly 200,000 less than in April, and, by the beginning of the fall 1953 season, magazine officials were hoping that the slump in sales was due only to the reduced amount of summer television watching. September brought smiles to TV Guide sales representatives. The 4 September 1953 issue sold more than 1.6 million copies. The sales of the September 11 fall preview issue reached almost 1.75 million.

Significance

TV Guide continued to grow throughout the decade; by 1959 there were fifty-three regional editions that pushed circulation to more than 6 million every week. Its success established the extent of television's dominance over the entertainment business and its growing influence on other media.