'TV Guide' Shedding Staff, Readers; Sale Ahead?

TV Guide's new owners didn't wait long to start swinging the ax. Macrovision's takeover of Gemstar-TV Guide was approved by shareholders yesterday, and today comes sketchy news of layoffs at the flagship magazine. A TV Guide spokesman couldn't immediately confirm that anyone had been let go, but editor in chief Ian Birch is said to be among the casualties; my call to him went to voicemail.

What will become of what was once America's biggest newsstand magazine? In its proxy statement, Macrovision -- which was primarily interested in Gemstar for its technology and data services -- raised the prospect of selling TV Guide. But it's hard to imagine who would buy it -- especially if the company tries to unload the print edition while hanging onto the website, as two sources say it hopes to do. Pure-play print magazines are hardly an attractive prospect at the moment, and TV Guide less than most: Newsstand sales have been averaging around 157,000 so far in 2008, substantially down from 2007's second-half average of 230,000, according to ABC Rapid Report. "They're losing a phenomenal amount of money on it every week," says one source familiar with the company's finances. □

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