If you collect fall preview issues of TV Guide Magazine, you may be having trouble finding this year’s issue. According to the magazine’s editorial calendar, the 2025 fall preview issue went on sale almost two weeks ago on Thursday, September 4th. When I stopped by my local Barnes & Noble, the previous issue was on the shelf.
I went again the next day and the previous issue was still on the shelf. This time, I asked someone at customer service about when magazines are stocked.
Here’s what I was told: Basically, Barnes & Noble stores have very little to do with the magazines they sell. Nobody at the store has any say in which magazines are stocked. A third party sends magazines each week, except for weeks when the magazine boxes don’t arrive. There’s no way to know when new magazines will arrive. It was unclear whether the third party also places the magazines on the shelves or if Barnes & Noble employees are responsible for that.
(This is similiar to how trading cards, collectible card games, and collectibles are sold at big box stores like Target and Walmart. Third parties ship and stock the products, the stores just provide the shelf space. I think it’s also how Hallmark greeting cards are sold. )
I did check Barnes & Noble again last week and discovered the previous issue of TV Guide Magazine no longer on the shelf but also no fall preview issue. There was no blank space where the fall preview issue could have been, suggesting it never arrived. It’s equally possible the store did get its allotment of fall preview issues and sold them all.
Three different groceries stores I checked all had TV Guide branded magazine special issues, like a puzzler magazine based on The Golden Girls and a magazine devoted to the new Paramount+ drama NCIS: Tony & Ziva. But no fall preview issue. The pharmacy I checked had a handful of magazines but nothing related to TV Guide.
So, I was forced to buy a copy on eBay, which was also the case last year. However, there aren’t many sellers offering the “newsstand” edition without a mailing label. In fact, based on completed eBay sales it appears the same just two sellers are responsible for selling nearly all the 2025 fall preview issues. One has sold at least 40 copies, the other more than 20, one of which sold at auction for $51!
For anyone curious, according to the Alliance for Audited Media, TV Guide Magazine had an average total circulation of 973,719 for the first six months of 2025. That’s actually up from 963,789 for the first six months of 2024.
Once my copy of the 2025 fall preview issue arrives, I’ll share my thoughts.
/////////ya mean it took you all this time to discern this>>? I get better response from my local CVS with their random display at check out counters than Barnes & noble!!!!………it all relies on the numbers..inventories are rarely vetted….spread thinner and thinner each season.****..call your store first and B& N are glad to take a minute and check he shelves by the way……….SAVE GAS!..
I remember how, decades ago, it was a big deal to go to the local grocery store and buy the TV Guide Fall Preview issue and read about all the new shows, so I could decide which ones I’d pick to watch. But this year I moved out of a one room home whose sole good point was free cable, into a nicer apartment, and decided I wasn’t paying $65 a month for basic cable TV reception. And I’m not paying for various TV streaming services, though I am supporting PBS, which gives me access to some of their shows online. I’ll wait to see the review of the TV preview issue, but in my life TV obscurities is now anything correctly being shown by broadcast TV networks.
Have you checked to see what off-air reception you can get?
I live in a hilly area, and the closest stations are 50 miles away, so a tall antenna is required to get TV reception. (I see I made a typo in my original post. I meant to write “anything CURRENTLY being shown….”)
Can you tell us where can I find them ? I forgot to subscribe them before it comes out. I usually get them every year except this time. I would appreciate your input. Thank you
I ended up buying a copy on eBay. I never found the issue for sale near me.
I was wondering the same thing about way was it was so hard finding the t v guide fall preview issue? I ended up doing the same thing and buying one on ebay. I have been told that some of the subscribers may not have got that issue either. I was determined to get one because i’ve been collecting the fall preview issue since 1980.
I do find it odd, You can go to eBay and get any T V guide fall preview issue as far back is 1980 and not spend more than $20.00 and have any to pick from .But if you won’t years 2024 or 2025 that is a whole different story. 2024 only two are available and both will cost you $100.00. A 2025 T V Guide is almost impossible to find at any price. The 2 that should be the most simple to get is definitely the most hardest to get. Can someone play explain this to me.
I do find it odd, You can go to eBay and get any T V guide fall preview issue as far is 1980 and not spend more than $20.00 and have any to pick from .But if you won’t years 2024 or 2025 that is a whole different story. 2024 only two are available and both will cost you $100.00. A 2025 T V Guide is almost impossible to find at any price. The 2 that should be the most simple to get is definitely the most hardest to get. Can someone explain this to me.