As a kid in the 1960s, I had a TV Guide route like other kids had a newspaper route. Once a week I’d get them shipped to me at home, then I’d go distribute them to my subscribers. I guess you could say it was my first job.
Found some TV Guide NFL rosters I had cut out when I was a pre-teen, probably around 1977. For archival purposes…
OK, I will admit it. I still subscribe to TV Guide (yes, I’m the one). I like having listings that I can scan for the week in about 10 minutes and plan what I want to watch or record. I don’t have TV listings on my TV but when I did I found them difficult to use; you either had to know what you were looking for or take 20 minutes for it to scroll through every channel. TV listings online always seem to crash my computer. This way, once a week I scan, see which shows I like are on that week, see what shows or specials look interesting that make sure they get recorded. Sometimes I’ll scan through their recommendations but I usually skip the articles.
I hate to say it, but your dad was a sucker. Nobody paid the regular subscription rate for TV Guide! Either you waited for your subscription to almost expire, when they’d start sending you urgent appeals to resubscribe for a vastly lower rate, or you used the coupon from the Publishers’ Clearing House Sweepstakes and get a subscription for something like 75% off.