New Guest and Topic Database
Dateline: 02/25/00
Each week we receive numerous requests for information about Talk Show guests and topics, both current and past. As a result of these user requests, an archive of Daily Talk Show Schedules was added last fall. While it satisfied the basic needs of our visitors, presenting a summary of each day's topics and guests, it was limited to displaying information for one day at a time. Visitors continued to request that we take this a step further, and provide some way to search for a particular guest by name. This week we have taken that next step, and are now implementing a new feature to provide the ability to search our collection of guest and topic information.
Starting with next week's schedule, current and upcoming guest lists and topic information will be available in our new Guest and Topic Database. This new method of accessing program schedule data will allow users to search according to several flexible criteria. You may wish to see the guests and topics for all shows on a particular date, or you might choose to see all the topics for one program for the past several months. But the most popular search criteria will certainly be to search the database for a particular guest name or topic keyword. For instance, you would be able to search for all the Talk Shows that Mathew Perry appeared on during the week of February 14-18, or all programs which have dealt with "teen pregnancy."
Over the next few weeks, all of our archived guest and topic schedule information for the past four months will be transferred to the new database. The original archive pages will remain online only until the transfer of data is complete. Talk Show fans should remember that producers do not make their scheduling data available to the public very far in advance, and the data is highly tentative. There is often a healthy competition between the shows to get the most popular guests and topics, and to get them first. Because of that competitive nature of the business, each show's list of guests and/or topics is usually published only five to seven days in advance. While we will continue to bring you the most up-to-date information as soon as it is available, the only way to guarantee that you won't miss one of your personal favorites is to check the schedule often.
Who are your favorite Talk Show guests? Who would you like to see more often on the Talk Shows? What are your most (or least) favorite topics? Come to the
Talk Show Forum and give us feedback on this new database, or join in one of these other HOT topics of discussion:
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