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{{short description|British television listings magazine devoted to soaps, celebrities and features}}
{{Distinguish|TV Time|TV Times (Australia)}}
{{EngvarB|date=June 2014}}
{{Use dmy dates|date=June 2014}}
{{Infobox magazine
 | title           = TV Times
 | image_file      = TV Times 7 December-13 December 2024 cover.webp
 | image_alt       = Cover of TV Times
 | image_caption   = Cover of 7–13 December 2024 issue, featuring ''[[All Creatures Great and Small (2020 TV series)|All Creatures Great and Small]]''
 | editor          = Claire Ruck
 | frequency       = Weekly
 | circulation= 197,153 (ABC Jan – Jun 2016)<ref>{{cite web|title=ABC Certificates and Reports: TV Times|url=http://www.abc.org.uk/Products-Services/Product-Page/?tid=1775|publisher=[[Audit Bureau of Circulations (UK)|Audit Bureau of Circulations]]|access-date=6 January 2015}}</ref> (Print and digital editions)
 | circulation_year= 
 | category        = [[:Category:Listings magazines|TV listings magazine]]
 | company         = {{plainlist|
* Associated Rediffusion (1955–1959)
* TV Publications Ltd (1959–1968)
* Independent Television Publications (1968–1989)
* [[TI Media]] (formerly IPC Media and Time Inc. UK) (1989–2020)
* [[Future plc]] (2020–present)
}}
 | firstdate       = 22 September 1955
 | country         = United Kingdom
 | based           = [[London]]
 | language        = [[British English]]
 | website         = {{url|https://www.whatsontv.co.uk/tv-times/}}
 | issn            = 0962-1660
}}

'''''TV Times''''' is a British [[Television in the United Kingdom|television]] listings magazine. From 1955 until 1991, it was the only source of seven-day listings for [[ITV (TV network)|ITV]] and, from 1982, [[Channel 4]] (as well as [[S4C]] in Wales in an enclosed local supplement titled ''[[TVTimes#Sbec|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 [[Deregulation|deregulated]], its nearest rival was ''[[Radio Times]]'' – owned then by the [[BBC]] and at the time the only source of weekly [[List of BBC television channels and radio stations|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 [[TI Media|IPC Media]] in 1989, which became Time Inc. UK in 2014 and then TI Media in 2018.<ref>{{Cite web | last = Devitt | first = Maureen | title = Scottish Television profit 21% brighter | work = Herald Scotland | date = 26 January 2012 | access-date = 2014-08-23 | url = https://www.heraldscotland.com/archive/headline.html }}</ref><ref>{{cite web |last=McCarthy |first=John |date=24 May 2018 |title=Time Inc UK unveils rebrand to Ti Media |url=http://www.thedrum.com/news/2018/05/24/time-inc-uk-unveils-rebrand-ti-media |url-status=live |archive-url=https://archive.today/20181209090426/https://www.thedrum.com/news/2018/05/24/time-inc-uk-unveils-rebrand-ti-media |archive-date=9 December 2018 |access-date=17 June 2018 |publisher=The Drum |df=dmy-all}}</ref> It was acquired by [[Future plc]] in 2020.<ref>{{Cite web|url=http://otp.investis.com/clients/uk/future_plc/rns/regulatory-story.aspx?cid=967&newsid=1341444|title=Proposed Acquisition of TI Media for £140 million|date=30 October 2019|website=otp.investis.com|access-date=31 October 2019|archive-date=11 July 2023|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230711103951/http://otp.investis.com/clients/uk/future_plc/rns/regulatory-story.aspx?cid=967&newsid=1341444|url-status=live}}</ref>

==History and profile==
''TV Times'' was launched on 22 September 1955, with the start of transmissions of the first [[ITV (TV network)|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 [[Associated Television|ATV]] at weekends, but regional editions began to appear covering those [[List of ITV regions|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 language|Welsh]] equivalent, [[S4C]]. On 7 October 1989, the programme schedule pages were printed in [[color|full colour]] for the first time. When the television listings were [[Deregulation|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]]''.<ref name=duopoly>{{cite news |title=The TV-Listings Market: The Duopoly Strikes Back |newspaper=[[The Economist]] |page=53 |date=2 February 1991}}</ref> 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 in the United Kingdom|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.<ref>{{Cite news |date=15 October 2022 |title=TV TIMES Awards 2022 |url=https://www.birminghamworld.uk/news/tv-times-award-my-mame-is-leon-cole-martin-birmingham-3876466 |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20221014141707/https://www.birminghamworld.uk/news/tv-times-award-my-mame-is-leon-cole-martin-birmingham-3876466 |archive-date=14 October 2022 |work=Birminghamworld}}</ref>

==Regional editions==
Until 21 September 1968, several of the [[List of ITV regions|regional ITV companies]] produced their own listings magazines:
{| class="wikitable"
|-
! Magazine name
! [[ITV (TV network)|ITV]] region
! Publisher
|-
| ''TV Times''
| {{plainlist|
* [[Associated-Rediffusion]]{{•}} [[Associated Television|ATV London]] {{small|(until 1968)}}
* [[ABC Weekend TV|ABC North]]{{•}} [[ITV Granada|Granada]] {{small|(until 1968)}}
* [[Southern Television]]
* [[ITV Anglia|Anglia Television]]
* [[ITV Border|Border Television]]
* [[Grampian Television]]
* Scottish Television {{small|(from 25 September 1965)}}
* Granada Television {{small|(from 29 July 1968)}}
* [[ITV Yorkshire|Yorkshire Television]] {{small|(from 29 July 1968)}}
* [[Thames Television|Thames]]{{•}} [[London Weekend Television|LWT]] {{small|(from 30 July 1968)}}
}}
| TV Publications Ltd
|-
| ''TV Guide''
| [[Scottish Television]] {{small|(until 4 May 1962)}}
| [[The Scotsman Publications|The Scotsman Publications Ltd]]
|-
| ''Television Weekly''
| {{plainlist|
* [[Television Wales and the West|TWW]]{{•}} Teledu Cymru {{small|(27 January 1964 – 3 March 1968)}}
* [[Independent Television Service for Wales and the West|ITSWW]] {{small|(4 March 1968 – 19 May 1968)}}
* [[ITV Wales & West|Harlech Television]] {{small|(from 20 May 1968)}}
}}
| Berrows Newspapers Ltd
|-
| {{plainlist|
* ''Wales TV'' {{small|([[English language|English]])}}
* ''Teledu Cymru'' {{small|([[Welsh language|Welsh]])}}
}}
| [[Wales West and North Television]] {{small|(14 September 1962 – 26 January 1964)}}
| Wales (West and North) Publications Ltd
|-
| ''TV World''
| {{plainlist|
* [[Associated Television|ATV Midlands]]{{•}} [[ABC Weekend TV|ABC Midlands]] {{small|(27 September 1964 – 28 July 1968)}}
* ATV {{small|(from 29 July 1968)}}
}}
| Aston Publications Ltd
|-
| ''The Viewer''
| {{plainlist|
* [[ITV Tyne Tees|Tyne Tees Television]]
* Scottish Television {{small|(5 May 1962 – 24 September 1965)}}
}}
|rowspan="2"| [[News Chronicle]]/Dickens Press Ltd
|-
| ''Look Westward''
| [[Westward Television]]
|-
| ''TV Post''
| [[UTV (TV channel)|Ulster Television]]
| Century Newspapers Ltd
|-
| ''Channel Viewer''
| [[ITV Channel Television|Channel Television]]
| Channel Islands Communications Ltd
|}

On 1 March 1991, ''TV Times'' published [[BBC One]] and [[BBC Two]] 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:
{| class="wikitable"
|-
! Region
! [[BBC Television|BBC TV]]
! ITV
|-
| [[London]]
| [[BBC South East]]
| {{plainlist|
* [[Thames Television|Thames]]{{•}} [[London Weekend Television|LWT]] {{small|(until 31 December 1992)}}
* [[Carlton Television|Carlton]]{{•}} LWT {{small|(from 1 January 1993)}}
}}
|-
| [[East of England]]
| [[BBC East]]
| [[ITV Anglia|Anglia Television]]
|-
| [[Midlands]]
| {{plainlist|
* [[BBC West Midlands]]
* [[BBC East Midlands]]
}}
| [[ITV Central|Central Independent Television]]
|-
| [[Southern England|South]]/[[South East England]]<br />{{small|(includes [[Channel Islands]] from 26 October 1991)}}
| {{plainlist|
* [[BBC South]]
* BBC South East
}}
| {{plainlist|
* [[Television South|TVS]]{{•}} [[ITV Channel Television|Channel TV]] {{small|(until 31 December 1992)}}
* [[ITV Meridian|Meridian]]{{•}} Channel TV {{small|(from 1 January 1993)}}
}}
|-
| [[South West England]]
| [[BBC South West]]
| {{plainlist|
* [[Television South West|TSW]] {{small|(until 31 December 1992)}}
* [[ITV Westcountry|Westcountry]] {{small|(from 1 January 1993)}}
}}
|-
| [[Wales]]/[[West of England]] {{small|(with [[S4C]])}}
| {{plainlist|
* [[BBC Cymru Wales|BBC Wales]]
* [[BBC West]]
}}
| [[ITV Wales & West|HTV]]
|-
| [[North West England]]
| [[BBC North West]]
| [[ITV Granada|Granada Television]]
|-
| [[Yorkshire]]/[[Lincolnshire]]
| [[BBC North#BBC region 1968–2004|BBC North]]
| [[ITV Yorkshire|Yorkshire Television]]
|-
| [[North East England]]<br />{{small|(includes [[Anglo-Scottish border|English-Scottish border]])}}
| [[BBC North East and Cumbria|BBC North East]]
| {{plainlist|
* [[ITV Tyne Tees|Tyne Tees Television]]
* [[ITV Border|Border Television]]
}}
|-
| [[Central Belt|Central]]/[[Northern Scotland]]
| [[BBC Scotland]]
| {{plainlist|
* [[Scottish Television]]
* [[Grampian Television]]
}}
|-
| [[Northern Ireland]]<br />{{small|(with [[RTÉ One]] and [[RTÉ2|Network 2]])}}
| [[BBC Northern Ireland]]
| [[UTV (TV channel)|Ulster Television]]
|}

The ten regional editions in England had ended by September 2005, and since then there have been only four editions:
{| class="wikitable"
|-
! Region
! Channels
|-
| [[England]]
| All 13 [[BBC English Regions|BBC]] and 10 [[List of ITV regions|ITV]] regions in England, the [[Isle of Man]] and the [[Channel Islands]]
|-
| [[Wales]]
| {{flatlist|
* [[BBC Cymru Wales|BBC Wales]]
* [[ITV Cymru Wales|ITV Wales]]
* [[S4C]]
}}
|-
| [[Scotland]]
| {{flatlist|
* [[BBC Scotland]]
* [[STV (TV channel)|STV]]
* [[ITV Border]]
}}
|-
| [[Northern Ireland]]
| {{flatlist|
* [[BBC Northern Ireland]]
* [[UTV (TV channel)|UTV]]
* [[RTÉ One]]
* [[RTÉ2|RTÉ Two]]
* TV3 {{small|(later [[Virgin Media One]])}}
}}
|}

===''TV Guide''===
''TV Guide'' is a television listings newspaper for [[Scottish Television]] programmes was published by [[The Scotsman Publications|The Scotsman Publications Ltd]] (owned by [[Roy Thomson, 1st Baron Thomson of Fleet|Roy Thomson]]) on 29 August 1957. The circulation began at 75,000, rising to 255,000 by October 1958. By February 1959, it had reached 300,000 – four times what the original circulation 17 months prior.

In October 1961, ''TV Guide'' compared itself that conclude its readers got "a far better bargain than do the readers of any of the other programme papers in [[Great Britain]] and [[Northern Ireland]]" – with three times as much information as viewers in [[North East England]], twice as much as Northern Ireland and [[Wales]], even when the ''TV Times'' put out an enlarged [[Grampian Television|Grampian]] issue still gave a better overall service than their best special effort.

An arrangement was made between The Scotsman Publications Ltd and the Daily News Ltd for the printing of ''TV Guide'' in a new magazine size and format. The new easy-to-handle publication was printed in magazine style by the [[photogravure]] process, bringing clearer, brighter pictures and print, with stitched pages to ensure longer life. It appeared under a new title called ''The Viewer (incorporating TV Guide)'' on 5 May 1962. 

===''The Viewer'' / ''Look Westward''===
''The Viewer'' is a television listings magazine in the [[North East England]] which covering the [[ITV Tyne Tees|Tyne Tees]] area was first published on 17 January 1959 by [[News Chronicle]] (later taken over by Dickens Press Ltd in 1963) as the official programme journal and registered at the [[General Post Office]] as a newspaper. It also publishes a version of ''The Viewer'' in the [[Central Belt|Central Scotland]] which covered the area of [[Scottish Television]]; and ''Look Westward'' in the [[South West England]], with all the programmes for [[Westward Television]].

The final edition of ''The Viewer'' for Central Scotland was published on 18 September 1965, they contract to publish STV listings had come to an end and decided not to renew it, within all the ITV programmes were published in an edition of ''TV Times'' from the following week. Three years later, Tyne Tees and Westward both published its final edition on 14 September 1968, shortly before ''TV Times'' became a national magazine for the first time from 21 September of that year.

===''Channel Viewer'' / ''CTV Times''===
[[ITV Channel Television|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.<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.transdiffusion.org/2014/09/29/not-the-tvtimes|title=Not the TVTimes - Schedules - Transdiffusion Broadcasting System}}</ref> It is the only locally produced magazine that is sold in the [[Channel Islands]] and many copies are also sent to viewers on the nearby [[France|French]] coast.

===''TV World''===
From 1956 to 1964, the [[Midlands]] originally had their own edition of ''TV Times'' listing [[Associated Television|ATV]] and [[ABC Weekend TV|ABC]] programmes. A separate listings magazine called ''TV World'' was published by Aston Publications Ltd (backed by [[Odhams Press]]) 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.

===''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 language|Welsh]] and [[English language|English]]. [[Channel 4]]'s programmes were also included.

==See also==
* ''[[Look-in]]''

==References==
{{Reflist}}

==External links==
* {{official|https://www.whatsontv.co.uk/tv-times/}}
* [http://bufvc.ac.uk/tvandradio/tvtip TV Times Index Project (TVTip) – Database of TV Times listings 1955 – 1985]
{{Portal bar|United Kingdom|Television|Media}}

{{UK TV magazines}}
{{Future plc}}

{{DEFAULTSORT:TvTimes}}
[[Category:Future plc]]
[[Category:Listings magazines]]
[[Category:1955 establishments in the United Kingdom]]
[[Category:Magazines established in 1955]]
[[Category:Magazines published in London]]
[[Category:Television magazines published in the United Kingdom]]
[[Category:Weekly magazines published in the United Kingdom]]