Firm to Circulate 1 Million Copies of TV Magazine : Media: Free listings guide would have 23 editions to target advertising markets. One source estimated publishing and distribution costs alone might be $250,000 per week.

COSTA MESA —  A small publishing company here said Thursday that it plans to distribute a free television magazine to about 1 million locations throughout Orange County beginning next month.

The publisher, Television Listing Co., said the magazine will be distributed each Monday to households and some hotels beginning Sept. 9. Founded five months ago, the private company was formed through the mergers of several local publishing and typesetting companies, said spokesman Kurt Lohse.

TLC magazine will feature a glossy format and 96 color pages weekly. It will include listings for the county’s 17 cable operators and grids listing daily program schedules. The magazine will not include any editorial features about TV shows or celebrities.

The company chose Orange County, Lohse said, because “it’s one of the richest consumer markets in the country.” If the Orange County publication is successful, the company may expand into Los Angeles and San Diego counties, he said.

The magazine will be published in 23 editions, targeted to local advertising markets throughout the county.

TLC is counting on local and national advertisers for the bulk of its revenue, Lohse said. He declined to name the company’s major backers, saying only that they were from “out of state.”

But TLC magazine may face tough going at first, said Eric Philo, a media analyst with Goldman Sachs & Co. in New York. He said it is generally difficult for free publications to attract consistent advertising because they must persuade prospective advertisers that people are actually reading it.

One newspaper source estimated that printing and distribution costs alone could total roughly $250,000 a week for the magazine. Lohse declined to discuss publishing costs.

In order to succeed, newspaper marketing officials said, TLC will have to capture the attention of viewers who now use Sunday TV listings published by Orange County’s two major daily newspapers--The Times Orange County Edition and the Orange County Register--and TV Guide.

Officials at the Times and the Register said it is too early to tell if the new magazine will create pressure to revamp their TV magazines.

Shelly Trainor, marketing manager for The Times Orange County Edition, said a major task for TLC will be coordinating a distribution network for the entire county.

Representatives for both newspapers said they thought the Orange County market is already saturated with TV publications.

“I don’t understand why they’d be entering this market,” said Howard Grothe, the Register’s vice president of advertising and marketing manager. Grothe said he was unaware of TLC’s plans before Thursday.

TV Guide officials could not be reached for comment.