Tv Guides

If you were relying on the Sunday papers as your main source to find out what was on TV this week, then you will most likely be both confused and misled.

Numerous amendments last week means that the printed guides in the papers become out of date due to the fact they are produced some time during the week before all amendments can be taken into account.

Both of the TV Guides (for Sydney) still had Conviction Kitchen in at 8.30pm Monday, even though Seven changed that on Tuesday (maybe time to stop printing these guides that far in advance?). One of them featured a review of the show, promoting its return at that time.

The Sunday Telegraph was blitzed by Seven – with a two page spread outlining the programming for the week, as well as one-third page vertical strips for My Kitchen Rules running over five consecutive pages. Seven seemed to only concentrate on the one paper, as rival Sun Herald did not have advertising from Seven to that level.

Both papers featured two pages of advertising from Ten. The ad referring to this week though – promoting all the new content – seems to make it look like Talkin’ ‘Bout Your Generation is new this week. It is not. This week’s episode is definitely a repeat, new episodes start next week – Tue Feb 8.

Nine were notably absent, with no advertising at all. Apart from new Two and a Half Men, $#*! My Dad Says, Getaway and new CSI, their schedule this week is pretty bare when it comes to new content in any case. Expect an advertising blitz this Sunday, Feb 6, the day the ratings season begins for 2011. Most of Nine’s new and returning shows start after Feb 6.

Back to the TV guides in the Sunday papers, and a change to GO! programming issued last Thursday means the GO! line up is incorrect for Wednesday and Thursday night.

And – what is with the program guide for ELEVEN in the Sun Herald’s Sunday TV guide? It says at 7.30pm “Late Programs”! Yet they print the rest of the day’s programming which is the same every day until 6pm in any case! Most people only care about after 7.30pm. Wonder if Ten are aware of this, and if so, what would they think?

Throng’s TV Guide for GO has just passed a major milestone – reaching 100,000 reads.

Originally as a post back in late July 2009 to show what was going to be on the then new digital channel, the TV Guide for GO! has evolved into a place where GO! Prime Time programming is summarised for the coming two – three weeks, taking into account all of those pesky programming changes the channel is notorious for.

At Throng, we do our best to make sure that all programming changes for GO! are included in the GO! TV guide in an attempt to ensure it is an accurate representation as to what ends up going to air. While we could simply post a copy of the advanced guides the network issues, the programming changes usually ensure that advanced guides quickly become out of date days after they are issued.

At now over 100,000 reads the TV Guide for GO! is one of the most read blog posts ever on the site, only the lyrics to Stan Walker’s debut single “Black Box” surpasses the GO! TV Guide – Black Box lyrics has over 105,000 reads.

Thank you all for your support, and we look forward to making it to 200,000 for the GO! TV Guide next year.

Visit the GO TV Guide.

In printed TV guides, it is not uncommon to see listings on ABC1 summed up as simply “Children’s Programs” in an attempt to save space, so more space can be dedicated to detail prime time and other shows. Typically, children’s programs – especially those made for pre-schoolers – tend to be short so a three hour block can contain something like 20 different shows and take considerable space to list out.

Recently I spotted the short cut “Children’s Programs” as part of the ABC3 program listing – a channel dedicated ONLY to children’s programs for 15 hours a day. In fact, the entire hours of ABC3 could be summed up as “Children’s Programs”. Surely an extra line of space would allow the ABC3 program to be listed in full.

Using “Children’s Programs” as part of the ABC3 listing would be like using “Sport” as a shortcut to save some space on listing programs for ONE HD – it tells you nothing!

While we are at it – isn’t it time that TV guides dump the use of “WS” to indicate is a show is in wide screen or not? Now that we have had digital TV in Australia for 9 years, the majority of shows are presented in wide screen. It is time to switch over the a symbol that indicates if a show is NOT in widescreen – something like “PB” indicating pillar box.

Back in 1984 – 9 years after colour TV was introduced to Australia, TV guides had been using “BW” or “B&W” to indicate that shows were shown in black and white as opposed to still saying that a show was made in colour.

For nearly 25 years I have enjoyed reading the weekly TV guide in the Sunday papers as part of a lazy Sunday routine. Despite now writing TV blogs and knowing weeks in advance what the TV schedule on each channel will be, there is just something about sitting down and studying the printed TV guide even though I already know for the most part what will be on, and even though the printed guide is never 100% accurate anymore – especially with channel 9 and their last minute changes.

And given that I am well aware what is on TV, I still do not know what late movies are going to be on any of the channels. Or when 7 or 7HD will be showing random Deal or No Deal or Sons and Daughters repeats. What midday movies are there? Are the any obscure shows I haven’t seen for years on at some time on any channel? What documentaries are on SBS, ABC1 or ABC2? All of this information I get from the printed guide – even though I know I could sit here end go through an online guide as well, or read through detailed advanced guides from any number of sources. There’s just something about having it printed in front of you – and I would consider the printed guide to most likely still be the source of most people’s information and decisions as to what they consider to watch on TV each week.

Sadly, however, the printed TV guide is not an accurate representation as to what is on all the time. With late scheduling changes being made as close as 4 days in advance – especially in relation to channel 9 and Tuesday nights, 7 has done it this week with True Beauty, and 10 recently with the Biggest Loser US not being on one Sunday and changing 7.30 Thursday to John and Kate plus eight – the printed guide is more often then not out of date by the time it is read on Sundays. This appears to happen due to the weekly printed guides having deadlines some time during the week leading up to the Sunday so they can be printed as a separate magazine.

Sure – the papers print “last minute TV changes” somewhere in fine print on page thirty-something, but it still does not help overcome the inaccuracies caused by late changes. A show here and there is not really a problem, but it has happened for a complete nights’ line up with channel 9 and Tuesday nights. I wonder, if the people editing the TV guides each week are completely up to date with the latest TV changes in time to make sure the guide is as accurate as possible.

This week, with the launch of GO, there is a full extra free to air channel to include in the guide. Up until this week, the TV Guides in both Sydney Sunday papers (Sunday Telegraph and Sun Herald) have had extra digital channel listings almost as an after-thought with show listings in a very basic text format below the laid out columns of the main channel. Each channel would simply have a time and a show name – no extra information.

Finally, however, in the Sunday Telegraphs’ TV guide, the free to air digital channels have been listed in a column format, the same as the 5 main channels. Now we can see clearly the TV guide for each of the channels ABC2, 7HD, GO!, ONE and SBS TWO listed in the same format, with the same kind of information – such as rating (as in M, PG, G, etc), captions, repeat status, etc. It now allows the reader to much more easily see what is on each of the digital channels, the same way they can for each of the 5 main channels. Congratulations to the Sunday Telegraph for producing a much nicer free to air TV guide. The only criticism is that channel 9’s program on Tuesday night is still incorrect, and this week will be the second week of having 20-1 at 7.30, 2.5 Men at 8.30 and Commercial Breakdown

But with channel 7 now the only free to air network not to offer a full time second digital channel, the column for 7HD is essentially a reprint of 7 programming with the usual break away changes from 12 midday to 4.30pm weekdays and some alternative programming after midnight. And coming before Christmas is ABC’s new kids channel ABC3 – so that will be 3 channels for the ABC.

Now, what about the TV guide in the Sun Herald? Well, not only are their digital listings still listed as an apparent after thought at the bottom of each day’s listing, there is NO LISTING FO GO!! So, if you are getting your TV information from the Sun Herald, you would not even know about GO. This, from a major Sydney newspaper, on the day and the week that a full new free to air TV channel starts just is unacceptable! How could they let the guide hit the streets with a whole channel missing? Its not like there has not been publicity for it? Surely they get the same channel 9 press releases as every one else? Carelessness? Mistake? Who knows. Its just bad! I know I won’t look at that guide again in the future though.

The irony though is that their channel 9 guide is more up to date for the week than the Sunday Telegraphs’ which suggests they are up to date with channel 9’s programming information.

Printed guides are still important. The newspapers should take more care to make sure they are accurate, and the networks in making scheduling changes should have respect for their deadlines to ensure their viewers by not changing schedules too late for printed guides to be accurate.