# TVTimes

TV Times is a British television listings magazine. From 1955 until 1991, it was the only source of seven-day listings for ITV and, from 1982, Channel 4 (as well as S4C in Wales in an enclosed local supplement titled Sbec). The magazine did not circulate nationally until 1968 as some (usually smaller) regional stations opted to produce their own listings publications. Until the market was deregulated, its nearest rival was Radio Times – owned then by the BBC and at the time the only source of weekly BBC television and radio schedules. However the two magazines were very different in character, and viewers wanting the full listings for the coming week were required to purchase both publications. The TV Times branding was also used for several broadcast spin-offs on ITV, including the Miss TV Times and The TV Times Awards during the 1970s and 1980s.
Previously published by Independent Television Publications, owned by the participating ITV companies, the magazine was acquired by IPC Media in 1989, which became Time Inc. UK in 2014 and then TI Media in 2018. It was acquired by Future plc in 2020.

## History and profile

TV Times was launched on 22 September 1955, with 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 (Rediffusion, London from 1964) on weekdays and ATV at weekends, but regional editions began to appear covering those ITV regional companies which did not opt to establish their own listings magazines. TV Times became a national magazine (except for the Channel Islands) from 21 September 1968.
During the late 1950s until the early 1980s, TV Times suffered frequent printing disputes that often resulted in the publication of emergency or special combined editions.
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 schedule pages were printed in full colour for the first time. When the television listings were deregulated on 1 March 1991, TV Times began carrying listings for the BBC's television channels and radio stations which, up to that point, had only been printed in the BBC's official listings magazine, Radio Times. On 11 February 2006, the magazine was refreshed for a more modern look including the double-page highlights of programmes on all channels as well as radio and kids' television listings were scrapped, increasing the publication's emphasis on big-star interviews and soaps.
On 15 March 2022, the television listings were given a refreshed layout which is similar to Radio Times, TV & Satellite Week and What's on TV. The changes included a return of radio schedules to the magazine after a 16-year absence.

### TV Times Awards

The awards are held annually to celebrate best in British television as nominations and winners are entirely chosen by its readers.

## Regional editions

Until 21 September 1968, several of the regional ITV companies produced their own listings magazines:
| Magazine name | ITV region |
| TV Times | Associated-Rediffusion • ATV London (until 1968) ABC North • Granada (until 1968) Southern Television Anglia Television Border Television Grampian Television Scottish Television (from September 1965) Granada Television (from 29 July 1968) Yorkshire Television (from 29 July 1968) Thames • LWT (from 30 July 1968) |
| TV Guide | Scottish Television (until 13 May 1962) |
| Television Weekly | TWW (until 1964) TWW • Teledu Cymru (1964–1968) ITSWW (4 March – 19 May 1968) Harlech Television (from 20 May 1968) |
| Wales TV (English) Teledu Cymru (Welsh) | Wales West and North Television (14 September 1962 – 26 January 1964) |
| TV World | ATV Midlands • ABC Midlands (27 September 1964 – July 1968) ATV (from 29 July 1968) |
| The Viewer | Tyne Tees Television Scottish Television (13 May 1962 – September 1965) |
| TV Post | Ulster Television |
| Look Westward | Westward Television |
| Channel Viewer | Channel Television |
On 1 March 1991, TV Times published BBC1 and BBC2 programme listings for the first time, which also mirrored the 11 regional editions generally referred to by the ITV company's name, rather than geographical area:
| Region | BBC TV | ITV |
| London | BBC South East | Thames • LWT (until 31 December 1992) Carlton • LWT (from 1 January 1993) |
| East of England | BBC East | Anglia Television |
| Midlands | BBC West Midlands BBC East Midlands | Central Independent Television |
| South/South East England (includes Channel Islands from 26 October 1991) | BBC South BBC South East | TVS • Channel TV (until 31 December 1992) Meridian • Channel TV (from 1 January 1993) |
| South West England | BBC South West | TSW (until 31 December 1992) Westcountry (from 1 January 1993) |
| Wales/West of England (with S4C) | BBC Wales BBC West | HTV |
| North West England | BBC North West | Granada Television |
| Yorkshire/Lincolnshire | BBC North | Yorkshire Television |
| North East England (includes English-Scottish border) | BBC North East | Tyne Tees Television Border Television |
| Central/Northern Scotland | BBC Scotland | Scottish Television Grampian Television |
| Northern Ireland (with RTÉ1 and Network 2) | BBC Northern Ireland | Ulster Television |
The ten regional editions in England had ended by September 2005, and since then there have been only four editions:
| Region | Channels |
| England | All 13 BBC and 10 ITV regions in England, the Isle of Man and the Channel Islands |
| Wales | BBC Wales ITV Wales S4C |
| Scotland | BBC Scotland STV ITV Border |
| Northern Ireland | BBC Northern Ireland UTV RTÉ1 RTÉ2 TV3 (later Virgin Media One) |

### TV World

From 1956 to 1964, the Midlands originally had their own edition of TV Times listing ATV and ABC programmes. A separate listings magazine called TV World was published from 27 September 1964, with the innovative idea of splitting 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 section from one publication. TV Times went national (except for the Channel Islands) from 21 September 1968.

### Channel Viewer / CTV Times

Channel Television published its own listings magazine Channel Viewer on 1 September 1962, followed by a relaunch as Channel Television Times in 1971 and then later shortened to CTV Times until 25 October 1991 as it was feared that the company might cease trading without the revenue from its own magazine.

### Sbec

S4C launched its own pull-out weekly listings supplement magazine Sbec on 1 November 1982, distributed free with the Wales edition of TV Times. It contained full details of schedules in both Welsh and English. Channel 4's programmes were also included.