2. RADIO TIMES IS A BRITISH WEEKLY
TELEVISION AND RADIO PROGRAMME
LISTINGS MAGAZINE. IT WAS THE WORLD'S
FIRST BROADCAST LISTINGS MAGAZINE
IT WAS FOUNDED IN 1923 BY JOHN REITH,
THEN GENERAL MANAGER OF THE BBC.
Wikipedia entry
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3. RADIO TIMES HISTORY
• Radio Times was established in 1923, when the BBC’s first director –
general, John Reith, was forced to pay up or NPA wont continue radio
listings. He then developed the idea that the BBC should publish their
own magazine, dedicated to radio listings.
• Initially radio times was a joint investment between the BBC and
publisher George Newnes Ltd, who produced, printed and distributed
the magazine. However, in 1925 the BBC took all editorial control and by
1927 had taken everything into their hands, under their control. This
remains the same now.
4. RADIO TIMES HISTORY - POST 1928
• As the magazine grew in popularity, it wasn’t just about radio for very
long. In 1928, radio times publicized a regular series of ‘experimental
television transmissions by the Baird process’ and soon enough in
November 1936, Radio Times became the world’s first television listings
magazine.
• Radio Times was initially a joint venture between the BBC and publisher
George Newnes Ltd, who produced, printed and distributed the
magazine. However, in 1925 the BBC assumed editorial control and by
1937 had taken the entire operation in-house, where it has remained
ever since. As the magazine grew in popularity, it established a
reputation for engaging leading writers and illustrators of the day – the
covers from special editions of this early period are recognised as design
classics.
5. RADIO TIMES HISTORY – THE 1960’S
• When BBC2 began transmitting in 1964 Radio Times expanded its TV listings as the new
channel spread out across the country. This channel became Britain’s first colour channel in
July 1967, and Radio Times featured ‘colour’ annotations against respective programmes in
the listings. The now-iconic cover, usually only in colour at Christmas and for other special
events, became printed in colour on a regular basis. See, for example, the cover of 28
September 1967 with a classic 1960s ‘dolly bird’.
• At the end of the 1960s Radio Times had a young new editor in Geoffrey Cannon, who
modernised the magazine and gave it the distinctive italic title (variations of which continued
to stay on the cover for over 30 years). Radio Times moved confidently through the
seventies and introduced local radio listings as the BBC launched these across the
country. Special editions were produced to mark events like broadcasting anniversaries,
royal celebrations and the starts of high-profile new series.
• In the 1980s, new printing methods replacing newsprint and metal meant that Radio Times
could be published in more, brighter colours. Its popularity climaxed in 1988 when the
Christmas edition sold an astounding 11,220,666 copies – a feat that goes down in history
and the Guinness Book of Records as the biggest-selling edition of any British magazine.
