Radio Times

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Radio Times
Christmas 2005 double issue
Editor Gill Hudson
Categories TV and Radio Listings
Frequency Weekly
First issue 28 September 1923
Company BBC Magazines
Country United Kingdom
Language English
Website Radio Times
ISSN 0033-8060
BBC Portal

Radio Times is the BBC's weekly television and radio programme listings magazine. It also provides on-line listings.

Contents

[edit] History and publication

It was founded on 28 September 1923, and originally carried details of BBC radio programmes in response to a newspaper boycott of radio listings. It was at one time the magazine with the largest circulation in the UK. Until deregulation of television listings in 1991, the Radio Times carried only listings for BBC channels, while the ITV-published magazine, the TV Times, carried only ITV and (from 1982) Channel Four listings. Today both publications carry listings for all major terrestrial (analogue and digital), cable and satellite television channels in the United Kingdom. A number of similar magazines, from independent publishers, also exist. However, the Radio Times still lives up to its name by being the most comprehensive source of UK radio listings in print, and also since the 22 May 2007 edition has carried two extra pages of TV listings per day as part of a slight tweak in the publication's format, bringing it up to 10 pages of listings for TV a day in total.

Radio Times is published on Tuesdays (its publication day having gradually over many years moved forward from Fridays) and carries listings for the following Saturday through to Friday (this began in 1960, before which issues ran Sunday to Saturday; the changeover meant that Saturday 8 October 1960 was listed twice). A special, often double, issue is published each Christmas (a tradition since 1969), in common with most other listing magazines. This usually features a generic festive artwork, atypical for the magazine which since the 1970s has almost exclusively used photographic covers.

There are several regional editions, which each contain different listings for regional programming. All editions carry variations for adjoining regions and local radio listings. There are now fewer regional editions than there once were because fewer variations in the schedules have led to merging of several editions. The most recent of these is when the Midlands and London/Anglia versions merged into one in August 2007. The exception to this process of merging is Wales, which used to be part of a larger Wales/West (of England) version, mirroring the HTV region.

Edition BBC regions ITV regions Other channels
London/Anglia/Midlands BBC London, BBC East, BBC Midlands, BBC East Midlands ITV London, ITV Anglia, ITV Central
South/West/South West BBC South, BBC South East, BBC West, BBC South West ITV Meridian, ITV West, ITV Westcountry, ITV Channel Television
Yorkshire/North East/North West BBC Yorkshire, BBC Yorkshire and Lincolnshire, BBC North East and Cumbria, BBC North West ITV Yorkshire, ITV Tyne Tees, ITV Granada
Scotland/Border BBC Scotland, BBC North East and Cumbria STV (North and Central), ITV Border
Wales BBC Wales ITV Wales S4C
Northern Ireland BBC Northern Ireland UTV RTÉ, TV3

The Radio Times was once edited by the British lyricist and entertainer Eric Maschwitz, and is currently edited by Gill Hudson.

Between 1929 and 1991 it had a highbrow sister publication, The Listener.

In August 2005, the Audit Bureau of Circulations assessed its circulation at 1.1 million copies per week. Although exact figures are not available from the publisher (BBC Worldwide) it claims to be the most profitable magazine in Britain (according to Ariel, the BBC in-house newspaper).

In the years after deregulation of television listings in 1991, there was outcry from other listings magazines that Radio Times was advertised on the BBC (as well as on commercial channels), saying it gave unfair advantage to the publication. The case went to court, but the outcome was that as the Radio Times had close connections with the BBC it would be allowed to be advertised by the corporation; however, it must be a static picture of the cover, and that the clear disclaimer "Other television listings magazines are available" be given (leading to the phrase entering common public usage for a time).[citation needed] By the early 2000s, advertisements for the publication had become sparse on the BBC, and since 2005 BBC magazines, including the Radio Times, are no longer advertised or promoted on BBC television and radio channels following a commercial review by the BBC.

[edit] Covers

A 1972 Doctor Who cover - illustration by Frank Bellamy. [1]
A 1972 Doctor Who cover - illustration by Frank Bellamy. [1]
Some of the cast of EastEnders on the cover of the Radio Times in February 1985.
Some of the cast of EastEnders on the cover of the Radio Times in February 1985.

To appear on the cover of the Radio Times is great publicity for a show, especially since most independent listings magazines tend to put soaps on the cover. Since the magazine is a BBC publication, covers have a BBC bias (in 2005, 31 of the 51 issues had BBC-related covers). Doctor Who is the most represented programme on the cover, appearing on 29 issues (with 35 separate covers due to multiples) in the 45 years since the programme began.[1]

Most covers consist of a single side of glossy paper. However, the magazine often uses double or triple-width covers that open out for large group photographs, while events such as Crufts or new series of popular programmes are marked by producing several different covers for collectors. Sporting events with more than one of the Home Nations taking part are often marked with a differ covers for each nation, showing their own team. The second series of Life on Mars, meanwhile, was marked by the Radio Times producing a mock-up of a 1973-style cover promoting the series, placed on page 3 of the magazine.

[edit] Radio Times Guide to Films

Since 2000, BBC Worldwide has published the Radio Times Guide to Films, featuring more than 21,000 films in a 1,707-page book. The 2006 edition was edited by Kilmeny Fane-Saunders and featured an introduction by Barry Norman, former presenter of the BBC's Film Programme, now hosted by Jonathan Ross.


The Radio Times Guide to Films 2007 is introduced by Andrew Collins.

There are also similar publications, the Radio Times Guide to Comedy and the Radio Times Guide to Science-Fiction.

[edit] Website

The Radio Times website uses hCalendar microformats, so that individual listing entries can be downloaded directly into calendar applications.

[edit] Bibliography

[edit] References

  1. ^ TV & Radio Bits - Radio Times Covers

[edit] External links

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UK TV magazines

Radio Times | TV Times | TV Quick | TV Plus | What's On TV | TV & Satellite Week | TV Easy | Total TV Guide | TV Choice