On this date in 1923 the first issue of Radio Times went on sale in Britain. 10 things you might not know about Radio Times.
Radio Times is a British weekly listings magazine devoted to Television and Radio programme schedules and also including other features of interest like interviews and reviews.
It was founded by John Reith, who was the general manager of the British Broadcasting Company (BBC) at the time. He did it because the Newspaper Publishers' Association was refusing to publish the radio listings unless the BBC paid a hefty fee. Newspapers were concerned that people were going to stop buying the papers and would get their news and information from the radio instead.
It was the world's first broadcast listings magazine and the first to reach its 100th anniversary.
The first edition cost 2d and covered what was on six BBC wireless stations (2LO, 5IT, 2ZY, 5NO, 5WA and 5SC).
A Braille edition has been produced since 1927.
In 1934, listings for television programmes first appeared. Another big change occurred in 1953, when the TV listings were moved from the back of the magazine and integrated with the radio listings for each day. Television was starting to look like the medium of the future, and it was suggested that the BBC register the name “TV Times”. The BBC, however, didn’t agree that TV was the future and refused to do so. Which meant the name was still free for ITV to use later.
Although television and most of the radio stations (except for the Home Service) ceased broadcasting during WWII, Radio Times announced at the start of the war that "Broadcasting carries on!" and never missed an issue, even in the face of Paper rationing. It was reduced to 20 pages of tiny type on thin paper at one stage, but carried on.
Today, Radio Times is published on Tuesdays and carries listings for the week from Saturday to Friday. In the beginning, though, the listings were from Sunday to Saturday. When the change was made in 1960, it meant one date, 8 October 1960, was listed twice.
Special events meant dedicated covers. Christmas, the Eurovision song contest, sporting events, royal events, and the moon landing had special ones. In April 2005 there were two special events: a general election and the Daleks returning to Doctor Who for the first time in years. The cover that week recreated a scene from the 1964 serial The Dalek Invasion of Earth, in which Daleks were seen crossing Westminster Bridge with the Houses of Parliament and Big Ben in the background. The cover text read "VOTE DALEK!". In 2008, this cover was voted the best British magazine cover of all time. Doctor Who, incidentally, is the programme which has featured most often on the cover of Radio Times, at 29 times.
As well as the magazine, today there is also a Radio Times website and a podcast.
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