Hooking Up to Cable Households

A "system-specific" TV magazine celebrates its first issue

The first TV revolution brought American viewers Milton Berle. The second has given households dozens of alternatives, piped in via cable to some 31 million U.S. homes. But to learn what is on their systems, cable subscribers often must wade through several lists that are incomplete or that include services not available in their areas. Last week an ambitious new magazine, TV-CABLE WEEK, started offering cable listings that are fine-tuned by computer to match, channel by channel, exactly what the subscriber's system offers--cable, pay services and regular TV. Said the magazine's managing editor, Richard Burgheim: "This is the only publication that gives the viewer everything he can watch and that is not cluttered with programs that he cannot get."

The 96-page magazine, developed by Time Inc., also includes 40 color pages with news and features about both broadcast and cable TV. In this "wrap," the articles and advertising are the same nationwide. The first issue highlights: an insider's look at how hosts were chosen for the Academy Awards show, with a calendar showing when nominated films will reach cable; a profile of Leonard Nimoy, who plays Mr. Spock in Star Trek; and a report on a cable series for children, Faerie Tale Theater. The listings are tersely descriptive rather than critical ("so that you can use your own good judgment," says a message to readers), though capsule movie reviews poke some mild fun, even at films carried on Time Inc.'s pay services, Home Box Office and Cinemax. Top editors pledge that coverage of company-owned program services, and their competitors, will be "evenhanded."

TV-CABLE WEEK will not be widely offered on newsstands or by general subscription. Instead, the magazine will be sold mainly to cable households, at 69-c- a copy. The inaugural issue was mailed to cable viewers in five cities: Fort Lauderdale and Pompano Beach, Fla.; Audubon, N.J.; Arlington, Texas; and Peoria, Ill. The magazine is scheduled to add 25 markets and to reach 600,000 subscribers by year's end. Said Publisher Daniel Zucchi: "This is a cooperative marketing venture with cable operators. Every time we add a cable system, we add a subscriber base." Providing "system-specific" listings requires sophisticated, and costly, computers. The project may cost $100 million over five years before it turns a profit. That would make it the biggest new magazine investment in history.

For advertisers, who have already signed up to buy 600 pages this year, the magazine provides a relatively affluent readership. TV-CABLE WEEK is competing for advertisers and indirectly for readers with the nation's largest weekly, TV Guide (circ. 17 million). TV Guide publishes 107 regional editions; in the past year it has increased its cable coverage to 40% of the listings space. But it is not system-specific. Publishing industry analysts reason that there is room for both weeklies. Said J. Kendrick Noble of Paine Webber Mitchell Hutchins: "The new magazine could become the principal TV directory for upscale families who have cable." This file is automatically generated by a robot program, so viewer discretion is required.