Michael Ausiello Leaves TV Guide

Many would call this man the face of TVGuide, with his quirky and light-hearted personality, stalking television and movie stars only to feed us, the buzz hungry consumer, all the best media gossip and scoop a magazine publication could offer. After eight years he is leaving TV Guide for none other than...wait for it...ENTERTAINMENT WEEKLY, did someone say burned? I've said it multiple times on this blog, but Entertainment Weekly, as an entertainment magazine, simply pwns, and I look forward to reading Michael's articles on the new outlet. I've been a fan of TV Guide for years, especially their online department, but for a long time now things have been going downhill. Editors Daniel Manu and Angel Cohn left more than a year ago to Television Without Pity, and now Michael Ausiello. Honestly I don't think I have any reasons to visit their site anymore, except for Maitland McDonagh's movie reviews and some of Matt Mitovich's TV commentary. Deadline Hollywood Daily also reports that people behind the scenes of TV Guide have been leaving, so I guess it's only a matter of time before this ship sinks entirely.

I must say that my favorite element of TV Guide's online community was their extensive coverage of all television shows and movies, their Comic Con coverage, and their TV Guide Weekly podcast, featuring a panel of four or more of their best online columnists in which they would discuss the week in television as well as movie reviews. Their last podcast was a few months ago, and when that went down I had to look for new places to find my TV gossip. The magazine isn't horrible, it's just that it's not exactly "breaking news" when you can read it online before the magazine is even published. To tell you the truth the only thing I check frequently in it are the sudoku and crossword puzzles in the back.

I remember the early days of TV Guide, with it's Reader's Digest sized issue which featured nothing but extended TV listings. I remember looking through it to see what reruns I could catch or what movies were airing. This actually brings up a good point; are published magazines a thing of the past? Will small LAN or wi-fi spots take the place of newsstands and will magazine journalists find new jobs as ... bloggers?!?!? Only time will tell I guess.