A note to TV viewers
Every day, for as long as I have been an editor at The Times and a long time before that, we have provided readers with one of newspapers’ most familiar services: television listings, courtesy of a national service. That has now come to an end, as has the PDF of the prime-time grid that has accompanied the e-newspaper since the start of the COVID-19 pandemic. And as with any change to long-held tradition, the decision deserves a reason why.
We are now well into streaming’s second decade — pioneer Amazon Video launched in 2006, with Netflix not far behind. TiVo (invented in 1997) and video-on-demand (1998) are old enough to drive, drink, buy smokes and vote. Even the broadcast networks, via Hulu, Peacock and Paramount+, have acknowledged that streaming is the future, and with it the option to watch most TV whenever and wherever one likes. To honor our name and keep up with The Times, we need to acknowledge that reality as well, and, in a world of finite resources, direct our energies elsewhere.
As such, this is not an end for TV listings at The Times but an evolution — a new beginning — designed to bring us fully into the Digital Age. We will continue to tell you how to tune in to highprofile live events such as the Academy Awards, and offer guides to the major streaming services, like Netflix and HBO Max. We will continue to point you to worthwhile series, whether by network, genre or country of origin. And we will continue to send highlights from the week in TV direct to your inbox every Friday with our newsletter, Screen Gab. Sign up at latimes.com /screengab.
Our approach to television listings may be changing, but our commitment to bringing you a West Coast perspective on the TV we love is here to stay.