A British Institution? (Radio Times)

Member Name: Night Owl

Product:	Radio Times
Date:	31/05/01 (102 review reads)
Rating:

Advantages: Plenty of information to read, and puzzles to do, aswell as the TV and Radio listings for the week.

Disadvantages: Price and very bulky.

The Radio Times is a British Institution, and has been around far longer than I have and can even remember!

As I have just recently written an opinion on my favourite TV listings magazine - TV Choice (see op), I decided that it was only fair that I did one, on probably the longest serving TV and Radio listings magazine.

Many moons ago, I used to buy the Radio Times every Christmas for it’s double issue - don’t ask me why, it was just one of those things that you did at Christmas, but with the wealth of new cheaper TV magazines that seem to have flooded the market - the Radio Times haven’t had a look in since.

At 85p, it is certainly not the cheapest listings book on the market, but you get a crammed packed 139 pages, and it can be bought from all good newsagents and supermarkets (sounds like an advert now!).
It is on sale every Tuesday, ready for use on the following Saturday.

As I said previously, normally I don’t buy this magazine, purely because of my opinion of it. To me whenever I think of the Radio Times, I think of an old fashioned magazine, that has more pages in it than I am ever likely to read, so why should I waste 85p each week for a magazine who’s many pages are never likely to see the light of day?

It was only by chance, that a copy of the latest issue ended up in our household again. Out of the blue, I received about three weeks worth of free vouchers for the Radio Times. These were going to enable me to try it again, without having to pay for it - good eh, and also to see if my opinion of it had changed.

Well, after having my first free issue, I have to say that my opinion, didn’t change - even my husband said that he didn’t want it anymore, even if it was free!! Me, well I thought that it deserved a chance and the extra bonus that it was free, swayed me further to get the next issue the following week, - much to my husband’s disappointment!
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Sorry, even though it was totally free and that it saved me a whole 85p, wasn’t enough for me to change my opinion about it. We were so unimpressed with it, that we never even claimed our third free week’s copy.


Looking through the Radio Times, there is four main sections - Films, TV, Radio and Plus, and the listings run from Saturday through to the following Friday.


Films
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In this section are reviews on the ‘film of the week’, films to look out for, a film planner, reviews on the week’s films on BBC1, BBC2, ITV, C4 and C5, the critics’ choice of the best films on Satellite, digital and cable, and also an A-Z guide to all the Pay per View films.


TV
~~~

As you would expect under this heading, come the listings for BBC1, BBC2, ITV, Channel 4 and Channel 5. Radio Times split these listings into Morning/Afternoon and then on the following page - Evening/Late Night. They also have a ‘Today’s Choice’ and then the best of the rest, with also the regional variations. Following these listings on a double page, are the listings for the Digital, satellite and cable - Sky 1, UK Gold, UK Drama, UK Horizons, Granada Plus, then the Sport channels - Sky Sports 1, 2, 3, British Eurosport, On Sport 1, Sky Sports Extra. Also BBC Choice, Animal Planet, Discovery, Nat Geographic, History, ITV2/S2, Performance, E4, Artsworld, BBC Knowledge, Paramount, Biography and Sci-Fi.

On the following double page is the film planner. This is a comprehensive guide to the day’s digital, satellite and cable films. The films are shown by Channel - Carlton Cinema, Film Four, Sky Cinema, 2, Sky Moviemax, 2, 3, 4, 5, Sky Premier, 2, 3, 4, Sky Premier Widescreen, The Studio, TCM and also Other Channels.

Films are also listed by what times they are on, so you can see at a glance what films are on at a particular time.


Radio
~~~~~


At the end of the week’s listings are then listings for all the Radio Stations - National and Local, including all the frequencies for all the Radio Stations. Radio Stations listed are: - BBC Local Radio for Berkshire, Cambridgeshire, Essex, Kent, London Live 94.9, Norfolk, Northampton, Oxford, BBC Southern Counties Radio, Suffolk and Three Counties - Beds, Bucks and Herts. The listings for the National Stations are: - BBC Radio 1, 2, 3, 4, BBC Radio 5 Live, Classic FM and last but not least, BBC World Service.


Plus
~~~

Under this category, are reviews on the latest programmes that are about to hit our screens, latest news on the Soaps, but I notice not all Soaps are included under this heading, and also an interview with a Star or two.


Also in the Radio Times, you will find sections to read on Sport, Music, Health, Food and also a page devoted to Puzzles, to keep you occupied.

Of the 139 pages in the Radio Times, 27 of these are full page adverts and don’t include normal adverts and half page adverts.

So what is it about the Radio Times, you might ask, that we don’t like about it: -

Well, for a start it is quite bulky, but I suppose if this is the only magazine that you are going to buy each week, then there is enough in it, to keep you busy until the next issue comes out, I like easy to glance at listings and not have to hunt through umpteen pages to find what I am looking for.

The cost - 85p each week for a magazine who half the pages aren’t even going to see light of day is a waste, I would rather buy a couple of chocolate bars with the money, as I would definitely get more satisfaction from them!!

My conclusion is that although the Radio Times is a good magazine, it is not the one for me. It must be good as it wouldn’t have survived for so long, would it?

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