Sunday, July 28, 2013

The end of TV Mags

The publishers don't believe any more in TV magazines. Last week, Springer announced it was selling its flagship weekly Horzu, which dominated the world of TV programs  in Germany, for half a century. A few years ago Murdoch sold the famous American TV Guide. In France, the circulation of Tele 7 jours, once the best selling weekly of Lagardère with close to 4 millions copies has gone down to less than 2 millions.

It seems that this family of magazines is in sharp decline for obvious reasons. There are too many channels which cannot fit properly in a paper magazine. Moreover, people use more and more catch up TV and video on demand and watch an infinity of programs on various supports .Internet provides all useful informations and usually for free. Even value added publications like Telerama are facing decreasing sales and un uncertain future.

The same thing happens with movies. Why should people consult the programs of their local movie theaters in their newspaper  when Allo Cine provides them with a very accurate information on what's happening all over France. Considering that, it's hard to understand why no French media group bought Allo Cine when it was on sale last June. Fimalac, a prosperous investment trust that belongs to Marc de Lacharrière was smart enough to acquire this very successful date base of movies.