TV Scene? We heard you loud and clear

You spoke, we listened, and we changed our ways. Last week, we converted our weekly TV Scene to a broadsheet format, with pages the same size as the rest of the Times Colonist. That was a sharp departure from the tabloid format we have used for decades.

Our readers were not impressed. I heard about it at work, in stores, on the street, and at home.

This Friday, the tab TV Scene will be back.

The basic idea behind the change made sense, to a certain extent. We wanted to streamline production by printing TV Scene at the same time we print the core of the Friday paper, rather than a day in advance. The simplest way to do that was to convert it to broadsheet.

Many other newspapers have started running their weekly TV supplements as broadsheet sections. We expected a few protests from readers, as there always are with changes to your daily newspaper.

We had more than a few protests — much, more more. Our execution of the concept was dreadful.

If I didn’t work at the newspaper, I would have phoned or emailed to complain. Fortunately, I could do that in person, and I could call for a second look.

This week, we are shifting TV Scene back to a tab format, but with a twist. You will find it inside the B section on Friday. The movie listings will appear on broadsheet pages inside the front and back pages of the section.

This change allows us to meet two goals; we can streamline things here and we can continue to serve our readers.

We appreciate all of the feedback, and the kick in the pants from our readers. From time to time, someone will wonder “does anyone really use TV Scene?” It’s safe to say that the answer, quite resoundingly, is “YES!”

Mea culpa.

Look for the tab-format TV Scene in Friday’s paper.

On another matter, we have had some protests over a change to one of our Sunday crossword puzzles.

North of 49 has been replaced with the Colossal Canada Crossword.

In this case, there is no going back. North of 49 has gone out of syndication, so is no longer available to us.

We’ve learned over the years that it is much easier to add a crossword puzzle than to lose one. In its 23 months as a feature in the Times Colonist, North of 49 built a strong base of fans.

We did not want to lose it, and we’re sorry to see it go.

Let’s hope that in time, its replacement can find its way into the hearts of our readers.