Variety TV editor Michael Schneider is leaving the publication to join TV Guide magazine as its Los Angeles bureau chief, reports TheWrap.com.

Schneider has worked at Variety since 1999 and held the title of TV editor during that time, the story notes. Schneider said he decided to join TV Guide as "the culmination of a 30-year love affair with the TV Guide brand."

He added that while he wasn’t looking to leave Variety, he was impressed with TV Guide editor-in-chief Debra Birnbaum’s efforts to bring "a newsier focus back to the magazine, and also thought the consumer space would present a new, fun challenge," the article notes.

Update Ja, 7, 2011 at 1 pm: We forgot to mention that Mike is also a former reporter for Electronic Media, which is what TVWeek used to be called.