“L.A. TIMES” REVIVES ITS TV LOG

In a move that left several online TV commentators scratching their heads, the Los Angeles Times announced Thursday that it is reviving its TV Times magazine supplement beginning this Sunday. Abandoned three years ago after the newspaper determined that most people prefer the on-screen guides provided by their cable and satellite companies, the TV guide will now be available only at newsstands and select retailers through the summer, but those receiving the newspaper via home delivery may also request the guide — at an additional cost of $3.00 per month — beginning September 5. In a statement, Times exec Frank Horvath said, “Our readers tell us they want a weekly TV book that covers around-the-clock programming.” Quoting the statement, New York magazine’s Vulture blog inserted the bracketed word “[elderly]” before the word “readers.” At AllThingsDigital.com, columnist Peter Kafka suggested that the only persons who would have use for such a guide today are the digital illiterati. The Times’ s thinking appears to be, he wrote, “Anyone who still reads our print edition probably doesn’t spend much time online. Let’s see if they’ll pay up for more paper.”