RETAILERS TUNING IN FOR TV GUIDE CONTESTS

NEW YORK -- To generate in-store excitement and additional sales for TV Guide's three fall preview issues, the publisher will kick off its retail display-building contest under the "Triple Crown '98" theme.

e's "NFL Preview" issue. It sold 3.5 million copies last year. Retailers also can build displays for "Returning Favorites," on sale Aug. 31, and the "Fall Preview," on sale Sept. 8.

To enter the promotion, retailers must create an original store display for any of the preview issues and then send in a photo of the display along with the official entry form.

Each issue has a separate grand prize. The winner of the "NFL Preview" gets a trip for two to the 1999 Super Bowl in Miami. Top prize for the "Returning Favorites" issue is a Caribbean cruise for two, and the "Fall Preview" offers a Monte Carlo cruise for two. Second-prize winners will be awarded an RCA Home Theater Projection TV and third-prize winners will receive an RCA 4-Head Hi-Fi Stereo VCR. All who enter all three events will receive a football-shaped remote-control.

According to the publisher, the display-building contests have a significant effect on single-copy sales. Sales for the "NFL Preview" issue at last year's winning store, a Kroger unit in Westchester, Ohio, increased 169% for single copies over sales of the previous week's issue. Similarly, the winning store in the "Returning Favorites" contest saw single-copy TV Guide sales jump 151% compared with the prior week's, and the winner for the "Fall Preview" contest had a 375% hike in sales in comparison with the preceding week's.

TV Guide is said to be the largest-selling weekly magazine in the country, with a circulation of 13 million. The "Fall Preview" sold 4.5 million copies and the "Returning Favorites" issue sold 3.5 million copies last year.