TVTimes
TV Times is a British television listings magazine published by TI Media. First published in 1955, it was, during its first several decades, known for its access to television actors and their programmes.
TV Times belongs to TI Media's family of television magazines including What's on TV, TV & Satellite Week and TV Easy, as well as the soap bi-weekly Soaplife.
History and publication
The magazine was launched in London on 22 September 1955, at the start of transmissions of the first ITV station, Associated-Rediffusion. Initially, the magazine was published only in the London area, carrying listings for Associated-Rediffusion on weekdays and ATV London at weekends, while the other ITV regions were served by their own listings magazines. TV Times became a national magazine on 21 September 1968.The magazine was branded as TV Times Magazine from 3 October 1981 until 6 October 1984, the premise being it contained more than simply television listings. From November 1982 onwards, it carried listings for Channel 4 and its Welsh equivalent, S4C. On 7 October 1989 the programme page listings were finally printed in full colour for the first time. When television listings were deregulated on 1 March 1991, TV Times began carrying listings for the BBC's TV channels, which up to that point had only been printed in the BBC's official listings magazine, the Radio Times. On 11 February 2006 it was refreshed for a more modern look including the double-page highlights of programmes on all channels, plus radio and kids' television listings were scrapped, increasing its emphasis on big-star interviews and soaps.
Originally published by Independent Television Publications, in 1989 the magazine was acquired by IPC Media, which became Time Inc. UK in 2014.
Use of the brand
ITV used the branding for several broadcast spin-offs, including Miss TV Times and The TV Times Awards during the 1970s and 1980s.Regional editions
Prior to 1968, several of the regional ITV companies produced their own listings magazines:| Magazine | ITV regions |
| TVTimes | Associated-Rediffusion, Associated Television, Associated British Corporation, Granada Television, Southern Television, Anglia Television, Border Television, Grampian Television, Scottish Television, Yorkshire Television, Thames Television, London Weekend Television |
| TV Guide | Scottish Television |
| Television Weekly | Television Wales and the West, Wales West and North Television , Independent Television Service for Wales and the West, Harlech Television |
| TV World | Associated Television, Associated British Corporation |
| The Viewer | Tyne Tees Television, Scottish Television |
| TV Post | Ulster Television |
| Look Westward | Westward Television |
| Channel Viewer | Channel Television |
From 1956 to 1964, the Midlands originally had their own edition of TV Times listing ATV and ABC programmes, but a separate listings magazine in the Midlands called TV World from 27 September 1964, with the innovative idea of splitting the magazine itself 50:50, with a second cover in the middle allowing for the magazine to be folded over to create both a weekend and a weekday magazine from one publication, before TV Times went national on 21 September 1968.
During the late 1950s until the early 1980s, TV Times suffered frequent printing disputes that often meant emergency or special combined editions.
On 1 March 1991, TV Times published BBC One and BBC Two programme listings for the first time, which also the 11 regional editions that generally referred to by the ITV company's name rather than geographical area:
| BBC regions | ITV regions |
| BBC Northern Ireland | Ulster Television |
| BBC Scotland | Grampian Television, Scottish Television, Border Television |
| BBC North East | Tyne Tees Television |
| BBC North | Yorkshire Television |
| BBC North West | Granada Television |
| BBC Wales/West | Harlech Television |
| BBC Midlands | Central Independent Television |
| BBC East | Anglia Television |
| BBC South East | Thames Television, Carlton Television, London Weekend Television |
| BBC South | Television South, Meridian Broadcasting, Channel Television |
| BBC South West | Television South West, Westcountry Television |
Every ITV regional area originally had its own version, but since 2006 there have been only four editions:
| Edition | Channels |
| England | All BBC and ITV regions in England and the Channel Islands |
| Scotland | BBC Scotland, STV and ITV Border |
| Wales | BBC Cymru Wales, ITV Cymru Wales and S4C |
| Northern Ireland | BBC Northern Ireland, UTV, RTÉ One, RTÉ2 and Virgin Media One |