One of the most perused reading materials in the United States is the TV Guide. Millions of people depend on the TV Guide for organizing their free time and their decisions influence the revenues of television networks. Thus, millions of dollars and jobs are also closely linked to the little magazine.

Nonetheless, the magazine’s owner, Macrovision Solutions Corp. has, , decided to sell TV Guide to OpenGate Capital. OpenGate is a private equity firm, with its headquarters in Los Angeles. It has been said that Macrovision Solutions, which is a company profiled on developing content-protection software, will close the deal with OpenGate sometime this December.

Selling the TV Guide completes the investment cycle carefully planned by Macrovision Solutions. They initially bought Gemstar-TV Guide International Inc., which published the magazine, for $2.8. They had then announced that the TV Guide wasn’t the focal point of acquiring Gemstar, but the electronics and the interactive guides it was publishing. Their intention to resell the TV Guide was transparent from the beginning.

The printed format of the magazine was the only one sold, which made the deal more difficult to finalize, given the insecure state of the American economy and the decline of print in favor of the online.

After a decrease in sales and consequently in the Guide’s circulation, the magazine went through a process of re-branding and presented itself as not only a TV guide, but a full-fledged entertainment magazine. The facelift ensured a sales increase, facilitating the current deal between Macrovision Solutions and OpenGate Capital. The current circulation of the magazine is of 3.2 million, and considering there’s one in every household, it can reach up to four times that many people.