As you can see this week, InOut is switching to a summer format. This means that while we’ll still be previewing all the big events taking place in the capital region and beyond, we’ll also be including more listings and information specifically aimed at the summer tourists.
TV (see this week's InOut guide – this week’s pick is The Fall, a thrilling four-part TV series about a serial killer in Belfast that Britain’s Daily Mail called “the most repulsive drama ever broadcast”, so we can’t recommend it enough) is not a priority. Nobody’s going to thank us for encouraging the tourists to spend their whole time in their hotel rooms – bar maybe the bellboys and the call-girls.
A respite from normal service like this gives us a chance to think, and it is worth questioning whether InOut’s TV listings page is useful to readers. Since 1998, we have been bringing you the scheduling details of programmes broadcast in English. But is anyone out there actually using it?
After all, we’re only covering eight channels – six of which aren’t free. Using an online guide like tvguide.dk in Danish isn’t rocket science – you don’t need to be Jessica Fletcher to know what Hun så et mord is. And increasingly the zombie nation doesn’t want to be told when to watch TV – they’ll download it when they’re good and ready and watch it until their eyes bleed.
In my five years editing InOut, I’ve only had one correspondence on the matter – from a polite American lady (I say polite because I think I’ve since met her but can’t be sure) who wondered why we sometimes chose not to include The Today Show. She had a good point …
Anyhow, I’m inclined to make it a case of here today, gone tomorrow with the TV listings. If there’s only a limited number of objections (respond via the website or write to me directly at ben@cphpost.dk) over the remainder of July, we’re going to discontinue them and instead use the page to focus on new shows, sport and films.
It’s in your hands, but I’m hopeful you’ll be too busy at the summerhouse to care. Those listings don’t write themselves.
