THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: Sunday, June 18, 1995 TAG: 9506170001
SECTION: COMMENTARY PAGE: J5 EDITION: FINAL
SOURCE: LYNN FEIGENBAUM
LENGTH: Medium: 85 lines
Quiz time: What is green but had readers seeing red last week?
You guessed it, the Television Week section - better known as the green sheet.
The June 10 section still looked like its old green self, but there was a difference. Instead of individual daytime listings for each day of the week, a new supergrid combined all the daytime TV (5:30 a.m. to 7 p.m.) for Monday through Friday.
Also, some old favorite features were missing. There was no Daytime Dial, the summary of soap operas; no TV crossword; no television Q&A.
Over the weekend, many of the calls were about the missing soap digest. But it wasn't till Monday that real Gridlock set in. Readers old and young complained that the new grid type was too small to decipher.
Others were confused by daytime listings vaguely marked ``varied programming'' or simply ``movie.'' What program? What movie? And what about some missing VCR Plus numbers?
For me, it was deja vu plus. I remember the complaints that came in years ago when grids replaced the old primetime listings. At that time, callers found the grids too small and difficult to read. Seems we've all gotten used to them now.
But the new grid has even smaller type and less space between the lines, and the complaints came rolling in all week - hundreds to a TV INFOLINE number and more than 70 to the public editor. Here's a sampling of what you all had to say:
``One thing you neglected to give your readers along with the new format was a magnifying glass. This is ridiculous.''
``Even a magnifying glass wouldn't help. The grid is a good idea, but make it larger.''
``Send the management staff a copy of these complaints in the same size type as the green sheet.''
``You should have raised the price of your Saturday paper to 75 cents, not cut back on the pages.''
``Does the newspaper have stock in LensCrafters or Pearle Vision?''
``The grid is mumbo-jumbo running together.''
And so on. You probably didn't see much difference in this Saturday's grid. Changes can't be made quickly because the programming comes from an outside listing service.
But the VP-LS Gridmeisters assure me they've heard all the complaints.
``Please tell people that we're listening - and that we're using their input to make adjustments,'' said Rosemary Goudreau, deputy managing editor for sports and features.
``We will never skip the soap opera digest again,'' she promised, ``and we will offer as many other favorite features as will fit.''
But to callers who said, ``Put it back the way it was,'' well, that's not going to happen.
Newsprint prices are soaring, and the changes save eight tabloid-size pages. This is a reality we have to live with for the time being. Not everyone wants newspaper prices to go up.
Still, there's room for improvement. As numerous callers reminded us, most of the people who watch daytime television are retired seniors. And reading the new grid is like reading the stock quotations - squint city.
Goudreau said readers wanted a simplified weekday listing, and the Pilot was the first U.S. paper to create an at-a-glance daytime grid, but it wasn't easy.
``What's shown on Monday isn't the same as what's shown on Tuesday,'' she said. ``To accommodate that reality and give as much information as possible, we had to shrink the type size about 12 percent.
``We wish we didn't have to. But the choice is less information.''
Did anybody like the new grid? Yes, a number of folks gave it a thumbs up. One resident of Westminster-Canterbury, a Virginia Beach retirement home, said he and his friends think the new setup is great and they had no trouble reading it. But I must admit these folks were in the minority.
However, there's something else to consider: Cable channels multiply like rabbits. Last year, some of the premium channels replicated themselves (i.e., HBO and HBO-2) and more recently, Cox Cable added five new channels. Each time that happens, the Gridmeisters have to figure out how to squeeze another line in the grids or listings.
It's a problem that's only going to get more complicated, so brace yourself for more changes in the years ahead. MEMO: Call the public editor at 446-2475, or send a computer message to
lynn(AT)infi.net.
by CNB