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Radio Times

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Radio Times
Cover of Radio Times magazine
Cover of the 2023 Christmas Double Issue (dated 23 December 2023 – 5 January 2024), featuring Mog
CategoriesTV and radio listings magazine
FrequencyWeekly
Circulation497,852 (July–December 2020)[1]
First issue28 September 1923; 103 years ago (1923-09-28)
Company
CountryUnited Kingdom
Based inLondon, England
Language
Websitewww.radiotimes.com Edit this at Wikidata
ISSN0033-8060
OCLC952210169

Radio Times is a British weekly listings magazine devoted to television and radio programme schedules, with other features such as interviews, film reviews and lifestyle items. Founded in September 1923 by John Reith, then general manager of the British Broadcasting Company, it was the world's first broadcast listings magazine.[2] In September 2023 it became the first broadcast listings magazine to reach and then pass its centenary.[3]

It was published entirely in-house by BBC Magazines from 8 January 1937[4] until 16 August 2011, when the division was merged into Immediate Media Company.[5][6][7] On 12 January 2017, Immediate Media was bought by the German media group Hubert Burda.[8]

The magazine is published on Tuesdays and carries listings for the week from Saturday to Friday. Originally, listings ran from Sunday to Saturday: the changeover meant 8 October 1960 was listed twice, in successive issues. Since Christmas 1969, a 14-day double-duration issue has been published each December containing schedules for two weeks of programmes. Originally this covered Christmas Day and New Year's Day, but on some occasions those have each appeared in separate editions due to the two-week period ending just before the New Year.

History and profile

[edit]
The first issue (28 September 1923)

The Radio Times was first issued on 28 September 1923[9] for the price of 2d, carrying details of programmes for six BBC wireless stations (2LO, 5IT, 2ZY, 5NO, 5WA and 5SC); newspapers at the time boycotted radio listings fearing that increased listenership might decrease their sales.[10] It included a message to "listeners" by the BBC's chairman, Lord Gainford.[11] Initially, The Radio Times was a combined enterprise between the British Broadcasting Company and publishers George Newnes Ltd; the latter typeset, printed and distributed the magazine. In 1925, the BBC assumed full editorial control, but printing and distribution could not begin in-house until 1937.[12] The Radio Times established a reputation for using leading writers and illustrators, and the covers from the special editions are now collectable design classics. By 26 September 1926, the narrow columns of BBC's wireless programme schedules were broken up by the insertion of a photograph or two, relevant to or depicting subjects of the broadcasts. On 1 May 1927, The Radio Times produced an experimental Braille edition under the auspices of the National Institute for the Blind, and its success led to a regular weekly version publication costing one penny. From 15 January 1933, a weekly crossword puzzle made its first-ever appearance.

From 5 January 1934, the three-column programme pages were expanded to include a fourth column, with the BBC's television programmes given a new section layout on 8 January, and The Radio Times announced a regular series of "experimental television transmissions by the Baird process" for half an hour every night at 11 pm. The launch of the first regular 405-line television service by the BBC was reflected with television listings in The Radio Times's London edition of 23 October 1936.[12][13] Thus, Radio Times became the first-ever television listings magazine in the world. Initially, only two pages in each edition were devoted to television, which ran from Monday to Saturday and remained off-air on Sundays until 3 April 1938.

Masthead from the 25 December 1931 edition, including the BBC's coat of arms with the motto: "Nation shall speak peace unto nation"
Masthead from the 8 January 1937 edition, the first using the title "Radio Times"

After 14 years, from issue 693 (cover date 8 January 1937), the definite article "The" was no longer used on the masthead or within the magazine, and the publication became simply known as Radio Times; a lavish photogravure supplement was also published in the same issue.[14] Prior to the outbreak of World War II on 1 September 1939, the BBC radio listings provided a National Programme for the whole of the United Kingdom, and the Regional Programme appeared in seven different versions (London, Midlands, North, West, Wales, Northern Ireland and Scotland) each with a combination of various transmitters respectively before the two stations merged into a single service, and included three pages of television listings. When Britain declared war on Germany on 3 September 1939 and television broadcasting ceased, radio listings continued with a reduced service. From 23 June 1944, the Allied Expeditionary Forces edition carried details of all the programmes for the Home Service and General Forces Programme. The same year, paper rationing meant editions contained only 20 pages of tiny print on thin paper. Radio Times expanded with regional editions introduced from 29 July 1945, and television resumed again on 7 June 1946. On 4 March 1948, the weekend listing schedules for three BBC radio networks were doubled together with daytime and evening sections in an additional four pages a week; weekday billings also using the same layout added 12 extra pages of more articles and detailed programmes bringing the total number of pages up to 40 (or 44 for the television edition) on 1 July 1949.

From 18 January 1953, the television listing schedules, which had been in the back of the magazine, were placed alongside daily radio schedules. On 17 February 1957 (shortly after the abolition of the "Toddlers' Truce", during which transmissions terminated between 6 pm and 7 pm), television listings were moved to a separate section at the front with radio listings moved to the back; a day's listings were sometimes spread over up to three double-page spreads mixed with advertisements, but this format was phased out when independent publishers were allowed to publish television schedules. The new layout was structured as:

Station name Successor

From 8 October 1960, BBC television and radio schedules were re-integrated; the programmes included a new "pick of the week" with a single third page for previews, before each day's listings; these came before the two pages of television and the four pages of radio. A new bolder masthead was designed by Abram Games (who created graphical designs such as the "Festival Star" on the cover of the 1951 Festival of Britain and the 1953 "Bat's Wings" ident) containing the words "BBC TV and Sound" on the left side, and was introduced with this revamp; it became one of the shortest-used designs in the magazine's history. On 4 August 1962, when Radio Times was again revamped, the masthead was replaced with one incorporating the title in the Clarendon typeface; while the main change was the reduction of BBC radio schedules for three stations to a double-page spread brought down in size, the magazine now generally had between 60 and 68 pages, as compared to the relaunched format from two years earlier, which contained only 52 pages. From 30 September 1967, Radio Times introduced the all-new colour pages of the magazine's feature sections, including "star stories", Percy Thrower's gardening, Zena Skinner's cookery, Bill Hartley's motoring and Jeffery Boswall's birdwatching, as well as "Round and About" with up-to-the-minute stories in both television and radio from around the world. At the same time, the four new BBC radio stations (replacing the Home Service, the Light Programme and the Third Programme) were launched within the schedule listing pages. The layouts of programme page headings were restyled as well as the three radio pages, rearranged with schedule billings for Radio 1 and Radio 2 on the first, Radio 3 on the second and Radio 4 on the third. In future weeks, it would boast another revised masthead using the same typeface: simply a bold symbol "BBC TV" to the right of the title, with the price, date and regional edition being overprinted in letterpress at the top of the front page, and the letters section and the crossword placed inside the back page.

On 6 September 1969, Radio Times was given another radical makeover under a new editor, Geoffrey Cannon, with David Driver as art editor and Peter Gillman as features editor. Among other changes the date format was switched from "month-day-year" to "day-month-year" and the magazine ceased carrying cigarette advertisements after 46 years. The new format inside had the first three pages devoted to an abbreviated listing of all the week's BBC television and radio programmes in a simple condensed form; major changes were noticeable on the feature pages as colour was spread out to accompany them rather than solely on the centre page. The look of the magazine initially became far more restrained, with less white space between columns and headings. More significantly, the lifestyle section (which covered motoring, gardening and cookery) and the crossword were completely dropped, and the highlights section was scrapped. The front cover was surrounded by a black border and italicised its masthead (now in the Caslon typeface with swash capitals; this logo remained until April 2001), in an attempt to emphasise the "R" for radio and "T" for television. From 5 July 1975, the magazine was given a refreshed layout which consisted of horizontal black bars from top to bottom with the familiar darker-shaded look; by this time, the BBC's television schedules included a "colour" annotation that was dropped eight years later; programmes in black and white were never indicated, with the exception of feature films originally made for the cinema. Another major change occurred on 18 November 1978, in response to wavelength changes which took place on 23 November, that enabled Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland to receive their own separate domestic services in addition to Radio 4 (also known as the national "Radio 4 UK" service, which remained until 29 September 1984); the arrival of these services on the pages forced all BBC radio stations into a six-column grid. On 30 August 1980, Radio Times developed a new double-page spread of Robert Ottaway's highlights for the week ahead, often used for both BBC radio and television programmes. The regular inside back page section for younger listeners and viewers featured content from Newsround presenter John Craven and a selection of new puzzles created by the television producer Clive Doig, such as the trackword (which consisted of nine squares in one word), as well as backstage stories and a comic strip of Peter Lord's Morph at the bottom of the page.

Between March and December 1983, Radio Times had severe industrial disputes when the British Printing & Communications Corporation and the union SOGAT 82 joined forces, and production was affected due to printing problems:

  • 23 March: The BBC regretted that the printers for next week's edition were in short supply, but copies would be available in the South West, the West of England, North East, and many parts of South and the North of England.
  • 7 April: The BBC expected copies of the magazine to be available in Scotland, Northern Ireland and North of England from 16 April, following the print workers in East Kilbride and near Bristol returning to work.
  • 4 June: The general election special issue with the combined England edition, as well as the three constituent nations (Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland) throughout the country was used for one week only.
  • 16 July: The magazine was finally returned to the fully-regionalised form with complete details of all BBC television channels and radio stations for national, regional and local.
  • 10 December: The magazine was printed and published as the single national edition once again, due to a print workers' strike from the previous week.

On 23 June 1984, the radio listings were redesigned again to improve their legibility and paving the way for a new printing technology. That same year, from 1 September, web-offset printing was used for the first time, meaning the magazine became brighter and more colourful. Newsprint and sheets of gravure gave way to black ink and white paper, Helvetica replaced Franklin Gothic for a larger character style, and the television listings were also redesigned including the new film icon[c] and the "today at a glance" sidebar on the far right of pages were added. Starting from 11 October 1986, the new family viewing policy[further explanation needed] warned BBC Television was not allowed to broadcast programmes before 9 pm which it believed to be unsuitable for children. On 5 September 1987, Radio Times introduced an innovative title called "Upfront This Week" devoting the first three pages of illustrated snippets to provide the latest programme highlights from all BBC television and radio networks. On 19 November 1988, Radio Times launched a new weekly back page section called "My Kind of Day", which was devoted to the latest star interviews with various special guests. On 25 March 1989 (during Easter), a general overhaul of page layout and design took place, with a major makeover for the programme schedules and the channel headings being visible in greater clarity; BBC One and BBC Two were once again separated, with the return of the late 1950s/early 1960s layout – television at the front and radio at the back. The week's Radio 1 schedules occupied a single page, followed by Radio 2 (with a facing pair of pages), then several pages of Radio 3 (five pages) and Radio 4 (six pages), and finally the BBC Local Radio listings; regional features, which had been absent from the English editions since the late 1960s, resumed with a localised page. On 25 November of that year, the radio schedules were restored to two pages for each day; some of the English editions now also had daily editorial features on radio.

From 2 June 1990, the entire magazine was published in colour for the first time, and another layout began to be used: the day's listings began with a single page of highlights which included "at a glance", followed by the double-page spreads of BBC television channels (BBC One always occupied the left page and BBC Two for the right page, without advertisements interrupting the listings) and BBC radio stations, now enlivened with colour logos at the top of the pages.[d] This layout only lasted for six months, when a new refreshed format debuted in the 22 December Christmas edition; while the programme listing pages were largely the same, the colour-coded days of the week were now at the top of the page headings.[e] On 16 February 1991 (the same date as the new idents of BBC One and BBC Two), the deregulation of television listings began, and Radio Times started to cover all services that included ITV, Channel 4 and satellite networks, an alphabetical list of the commercial radio stations available with the frequency and a two or three-word summary of that station's output which was added to the local radio page. Full complete listings of the four main channels and satellite began on Friday 1 March.

Prior to deregulation, the five weekly listings magazines were as follows:

Today, both publications carry listings for all major terrestrial, cable and satellite television channels in the United Kingdom and following deregulation, new listings magazines such as Mirror Group's TV First, IPC Media's What's on TV, Bauer Media Group's TV Quick and Hamfield Publications' TV Plus[m] began to be published; several newspapers were also allowed to print television schedules for the entire forthcoming week on a Saturday (or a Sunday), where previously they had only been able to list each day's programmes in that edition.

With another major refresh on 31 August 1991, the four extra pages of satellite television listings and one page of the highlights section were scrapped and replaced by ten satellite networks (with two more, Comedy Channel and CNN International, added) from top to bottom; the daytime schedules for BBC One and BBC Two flanked the satellite listings on the left, with ITV, Channel 4 and "at a glance" on the right; the main evening schedules for terrestrial television channels retained the same layout. On 5 September 1992, the daytime listings were slightly tweaked, ITV's programme schedules were now sandwiched between BBC Two and Channel 4 within the centre pages, and there were now two pages of satellite and cable channels for each category making up six pages of television listings every day:

Category section Channels
Movies
Sport
News
Entertainment
(unused until 11 September 1993)
Cable

Several layouts were altered during 1993:

  • 1 January: The VideoPlus+ number codes to cover all the terrestrial and satellite television channels were added for the first time, which allowed viewers with suitably equipped video recorders to enter the programme's number and ensure its timer was set to tapeg it.
  • 2 January: The new "film premiere" icon appeared for terrestrial television listings, replacing the phrase "first showing on network television".
  • 30 April: The second national commercial station Virgin 1215 was launched and appeared in the local radio listings page.
  • 5 June: The radio schedules were given a radical makeover, with highlights on the right including day-by-day Virgin 1215, Classic FM and BBC World Service added to each page; the local radio listings incorporated the weekly frequency guide, and the television schedule pages saw the introduction of the year of production shown in brackets for film titles.
  • 19 June: The categories for satellite television listings were completely rearranged, with the news section includes Sky One moving to the left and the sport section moving to the right, with BSkyB's film classifications added at the bottom corner on the left page.
  • 24 July: Two former cable-only services (Bravo and Discovery) appeared in the entertainment section following their launch on satellite, and the cable television listings were relegated to the bottom, meaning the sport section was no longer used.
  • 1 September: With the introduction of Sky Multichannels package on the new Astra 1C system, three new services (UK Living, Family Channel and Nickelodeon) launched, as well as CMT Europe; all were added to the previously unused entertainment category within the sport section (sandwiched between movies and news on the left) and Sky One's schedules moved back to the right page.
  • 11 September: The satellite television listings were given a redesigned layout, starting with the new movie planner section, providing the latest film titles in alphabetical order on various channels at different times every day; other changes included the new factual section (including Discovery, Sky News and CNN International) that replaced the news category, and the sport section moved back to the right page again.
  • 18 September: The British versions of TNT and Cartoon Network were added to the movie planner and entertainment sections respectively.
  • 25 September: The daytime listings were changed again, with "at a glance" now on the right page and advertisements occupying the left page. The channel heading logos were reduced into smaller horizontal bars on columns adjacent to those used for terrestrial television listings, a new children's television section (with Children's Channel, Nickelodeon and Cartoon Network) was added, and the cable listings including Super Channel were moved to the left side next to the movie planner section (with AsiaVision, Wire TV and Learning Channel being removed).
  • 1 October: The British version of QVC launches, appearing at the bottom corner in the entertainment section.

Radio Times's design was refreshed on 3 September 1994: the television listings had the day's name written vertically, beginning with the daytime section including "today's choices" (which replaced "at a glance" on the left page), followed by the main evening's schedules in an original four-column grid, as well as the highlights section (now occupying the far left page within the satellite listings), and the movie planner was now on the right page. On 22 March 1997, the programme pages in the television section were restyled, often including smaller headings and more billing type with several changes in this layout between the narrower columns for Channel 5 schedules (which launched on 30 March) on the right and regional variations on the left page. Another major revamp took place on 25 September 1999, where all the pages now proceeded in the order: the letters section, followed by film reviews, then the seven-day programme guide with six pages for television (including satellite) and two pages for radio, as well as the single-page crossword and local radio listings with frequencies, and finally the "My Kind of Day" for the back page which was preceded by classified advertisements. The programme page headings were returned to being inside a coloured block,[o] and the primetime television listings went from two narrow columns to one wide column. The warning phrase "contains strong language", used for BBC television programmes from 9 pm during the hours of watershed broadcasting restrictions was also implemented at this time, lasting until 2009. This layout lasted until shortly before Easter on 13 April 2001, which saw the new masthead title with the BBC's corporate typeface Gill Sans (used until the end of 2004, being replaced by Interstate at the start of 2005), while the programme pages with eight pages of television listings reverted to having the day running across the top of the page horizontally, and the satellite listings expanded into four pages, while the double-page movie planner section for 18 different film channels was retained.

On 26 November 2002, NTL and BBC Worldwide announced a major new agreement that would offer an exclusive, tailored edition of Radio Times to every NTL customer across the United Kingdom every week, to be delivered directly to subscribers' homes. The special NTL edition of Radio Times replaced the monthly Cable Guide magazine, which had been published from September 1986 to December 2002. It contained programme information for channels carried by NTL, including all terrestrial services. Front Row's pay-per-view movies and events were also included. Subscribers were offered the first four weekly issues of the new title for the same price as the existing monthly magazine, delivered free to homes in time for the first programme week of 4 January 2003; both companies actively and jointly marketed the new edition.

From 30 October 2004, the programme schedule pages were revamped again, with the regional variations now at the bottom of the daytime section, as well as the same spread on the five main channels; BBC Three, BBC Four, ITV2, ITV3 (launched on 1 November) and More4 (from 10 October 2005) now appeared in digital/cable section on the right page, with a children's section in a single page on the left. The category sections for digital, satellite and cable listings also returned after a four-year absence:

Category section Digital, satellite and cable channels
Entertainment
Lifestyle
Factual
Sport
Films
Kids' TV

On 22 May 2007, two extra pages of television listings per day were added as part of a slight tweak in the publication's format, bringing it up to ten pages of listings per day in total, or five double-page spreads: one page of highlights with daytime listings and regional variations, followed by two pages of evening's terrestrial television listings (with "at a glance" for nine digital channels until 2010), then six pages of listings for digital, satellite and cable channels. Digital radio listings were integrated into the main radio pages, and three new pages of sport, lifestyle and music were added. By 11 April 2009, the digital, satellite and cable schedules were reshuffled (alongside entertainment, factual and children's sections) preceded by "today's choices" on the left side, and the sport section moved to the right side as well as the films section starting on the left within the centre pages horizontally. 10 April 2010 saw major changes as Radio Times went through an overhaul, with two pages of the latest reviews and highlights ("choices") somewhat akin to the TV Times, while the daytime listings moved to the evening section having the full day's output for the five main channels on one double-page spread; other changes saw listings start at 5 pm rather than 6.30 pm (sometimes earlier than 5 pm for weekends, bank holidays, Easter, Christmas and New Year), the addition of electronic program guide numbers into the channel headers, and the inclusion of director and year of production details for films throughout the day. For the London 2012 Olympics, the listings for three terrestrial channels (BBC Two, ITV and Channel 4) temporarily moved onto the right page and Channel 5 was moved to the next page on the left, to provide enough space for BBC One and BBC Three/BBC Four as the Olympic broadcasters, which also reminded viewers to use both the red button and online for BBC channels with additional broadcasts.

Following the closure of the BBC Three channel on 20 February 2016, Radio Times started to include BBC Four in the main channels section, with Channel 5 being relegated to the Freeview section. On 24 March 2020, to coincide with the launch of Disney+, Radio Times introduced two new sections for podcasts and six pages devoted to streaming and various catch-up services. On 8 September that same year, the Freeview channel listings were rearranged with Sky Arts moved to the second page, also the three columns in the satellite and cable pages were on the left side with the children's television section, and the six film services were also included. During the Tokyo Olympics (which was delayed due to global COVID-19 pandemic), on 20 July 2021 Radio Times declared its special bumper issue with 212 pages that included 16-day listings of the BBC's coverage and a comprehensive easy-to-use guide preceded by two pages with "pick of the action" chosen by various pundits, although this layout becoming slightly different since listings started on the left page with two columns for BBC One as a dedicated Olympic broadcaster (including BBC Red Button at the bottom) and BBC Two in the single column, as well as ITV, Channel 4 and BBC Four schedules placed on the right page. From 25 January 2022, the Freeview schedules were altered again starting with the return of BBC Three (launched on 1 February after six years since the television channel moved online), with ITV2's listings occupying at the bottom, and the seven remaining services placed in the second and third pages respectively.

From 4 October 2022 (three weeks before the BBC's 100th anniversary celebrations), Radio Times refreshed its format:

  • The "this week" section which was devoted to the best entertainment reviews with all latest news over the next seven days, as well as other features including the grapevine, ten questions, viewpoint and "on the box" fronted by broadcaster Jane Garvey.
  • The expanded pages of the streaming section provided the best of catch-up services for television and films (including free-to-view, subscription or premium).
  • The double-page "highlights" section was given a newly refreshed layout dedicated to the most comprehensive guide of programmes throughout the week ahead with "also on today", "live sport" and "film of the day" also included.
  • The third page of the Freeview section included some of its children's television schedules sandwiched between the top two channels. Food Network and Blaze were added as requested by readers and the number of movie channels was reduced from eighteen to eight within the centre pages, with the latest film reviews embedded into each day's listings occupying the right hand side.
  • The last two pages of satellite/cable schedules followed by the sport section were incorporated into a "quick and easy" planner with various times by using individual live coverage of other events, as well as channel numbers (including Sky Sports, BT Sport, Eurosport and Premier Sports) listed in the bottom right corner. Three weeks later (18 October), the mainstream sport listings were reverted to any channel rather than popular events.

On 4 April 2023, the radio pages had a major refresh to provide listings by adding three services (Boom Radio, Greatest Hits Radio, and Times Radio), as well as a restyled podcasts section to improve pick of the best audio on demand.

On 3 February 2026, Radio Times underwent its first significant masthead refresh in more than 20 years, aiming to reposition itself for a rapidly changing media. The new design drew on the magazine's heyday between the 1970s and 1990s, reinterpreting the logo for a modern context balances with clarity and confidence. As from 31 March of that year, the programme pages for television and radio were tweaked, with 5's schedules placed on the main channels and BBC Four moved back to its Freeview section after a ten-year absence.

Circulation

[edit]

In 1934, Radio Times achieved a circulation of two million and its net profit in that year was more than one quarter of the total BBC licence income. By the 1950s, Radio Times had grown to be the magazine with the largest circulation in Europe, with an average sale of 8.8 million in 1955.[16] Following the 1969 relaunch, circulation dropped by about a quarter of a million; it would take several years to recover but the magazine remained ahead of its glossier lifestyle-led competitor, TV Times. In the mid-1970s, it was just over four million; but in 2013 it was just over one million.

Between January and June 1990, Radio Times had an audited circulation of 2.8 million and TV Times of 2.7 million in the year before the deregulation of television listings, as they both had exclusivity of the future BBC and other commercial broadcasters respectively.

During a major revamp in April 2010, Radio Times was the third-biggest-selling magazine in the United Kingdom. However, according to the Audit Bureau of Circulations, the magazine experienced about 2.2% year-on-year decrease to an average weekly sale of 1,648,000 in the second half of 2009. It averaged a circulation per issue of 497,852 between July and December 2020,[17] versus 1,041,826 for TV Choice[q][18] and 690,617 for What's on TV.[19]

Advertising

[edit]

Between April and November 1990, Radio Times included a four-page advertising feature featuring previews of British Satellite Broadcasting programmes for its five channels – Sports Channel, Movie Channel,[j] Now, Galaxy and Power Station.[k]

During the deregulation of television listings, there was strong criticism from other magazines that Radio Times was advertised on the BBC (as well as on commercial broadcasting channels), saying that it gave unfair advantage to a publication and includes the tagline: "If it's on, it's in". 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 BBC; however, from 1992 until 2004, it had to depict a static picture of the cover, and show a clear disclaimer reading "Other television listings magazines are available", 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.[citation needed] Radio Times has not been promoted on BBC television and radio channels since 2005, following complaints by rival publications that the promotions were unfair competition.[20]

Disputes

[edit]

For various reasons, printing disputes and other operational difficulties have led to Radio Times appearing in different formats to the standard, as well as some issues not being printed.[21] These include:

Issue No. Issue date Reason
138 14 May 1926 Unpublished due to general strike
1221 21 February 1947 Unpublished due to fuel crisis
28 February 1947
1342 1 July 1949 London edition printed by The Daily Graphic
1404 8 September 1950 Unpublished due to printing dispute
15 September 1950 Nine-day issue, northern edition printed as a tabloid format
1408 13 October 1950 Unpublished due to printing dispute
20 October 1950
27 October 1950
3 November 1950 Nine-day issue, northern edition printed as a tabloid format
1685 24 February 1956 Printed as a broadsheet format in Paris, France
1686 2 March 1956
1687 9 March 1956
1688 16 March 1956
1689 23 March 1956
1690 30 March 1956
2870 11 November 1978 Cover printed in monochrome
2871 18 November 1978
2872 25 November 1978
2951 31 May 1980
3012 1 August 1981 Unpublished due to printing dispute
3099 2 April 1983
3100 9 April 1983
3134 3 December 1983

Other publications

[edit]

An annual was published three times: in 1954,[22] 1955[22] and 1956.[23]

The Radio Times Film & Video Guide by the magazine's film and video editor Derek Winnert was first published in 1994, featuring more than 18,000 films and an introduction by Barry Norman, former presenter of the BBC's Film programme.[24] A second edition was published the following year. In 2000, a completely new Radio Times Guide to Films was published by BBC Worldwide, edited by Kilmey Fane-Saunders, featuring more than 21,000 film titles. The last edition of Radio Times Guide to Films was published in 2018. In September 2023, Radio Times publishes its own 180-page film guide dedicated to reviews and trivia for over 1,000 titles with five different star rating systems, and includes 250 favourites from the beginning of cinema to the present day.

There are also similar publications: the Radio Times Guide to TV Comedy by Mark Lewisohn, and the Radio Times Guide to Science-Fiction.

Website

[edit]

The Radio Times website was launched in June 1997, primarily as a listings service. As from 18 August 2011, it relaunched and offers diverse editorial product to accompany its schedules for television, radio and film recommendations.

Puzzles

[edit]

On 28 September 2020, Radio Times launched its online puzzle site using brainteasers from their archive. Puzzles include those based on television and radio programmes such as Eggheads, Only Connect, Pointless, Channel 4's Countdown and BBC Radio 2's PopMaster.[citation needed]

Podcast

[edit]

On 8 September 2021, Radio Times introduced a 40-minute podcast show hosted by Jane Garvey and Rhianna Dhillon that includes interviews with television celebrities.

Covers

[edit]

When the magazine was a BBC publication, the covers had a BBC bias (in 2005, 31 of the 51 issues had BBC-related covers) and consisting of a single side of glossy paper; however the magazine often uses double or triple-width covers that open out for several large group photographs.

While recurring events (such as Remembrance Day, Crufts, the Oscars/BAFTAs, Eurovision Song Contest, Wimbledon Championships, Glastonbury Festival, the Proms and the Olympic Games) or new series programmes are marked by producing different covers, other covers are also sought by collectors:

  • The first person of colour to feature on the front cover was the American singer Paul Robeson, in the 535th issue which dated on 29 December 1933.[25][26]
  • Following the invasion of Poland and