The New York Times Ends TV Listings in Print... "Now It's the Streaming Era"

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[Asia Economy Reporter Jeong Hyunjin] The American daily newspaper The New York Times (NYT) is removing the TV schedule from its print edition for the first time in 81 years. Unlike the past when viewers enjoyed content on TV according to a fixed schedule set by broadcasters, the need for TV schedules has diminished in the 'streaming era,' where people can watch videos whenever they want.

According to NYT on the 31st, Gilbert Cruz, the culture editor of the company, recently stated, "We are firmly in the streaming era. TV schedules no longer reflect how people watch TV." He added, "In the past, people would flip through the TV guide and say, 'Wow, this movie is airing on a cable channel this week!' But now, the hit shows are on Netflix, available anytime you want."

Accordingly, NYT will no longer include TV schedules starting next week. NYT explained that this change allows them to print the arts section as a single version for both the city and national subscribers. Until now, NYT published separate editions for the national and New York City versions to accommodate the TV schedule. NYT said it aims to simplify the newspaper production process as much as possible amid the chaos caused by the COVID-19 pandemic.

The Sunday edition of NYT will provide guides to various streaming service programs, and readers will be able to search for episode details of popular programs like "Star Trek" or "Saturday Night Live" online.

NYT began regularly providing TV program guides on May 18, 1939, with a brief note under a radio-related column stating, "Movies will be shown from 11 a.m. to 4 p.m." Later, in January 1945, one page of NYT introduced only four TV programs, one of which was a local wrestling match that aired for two and a half hours. As the number of TV channels increased, it was not until March 1988 that nearly 40 TV channel programs were introduced in a schedule format.

In 2006, when NYT stopped providing a weekly TV guide, there was a flood of complaints from readers. At that time, digital streaming services were not widespread, so the company received many protest calls.

This content was produced with the assistance of AI translation services.