Radio Times > Reviews (13)

As I don’t read any other mags at present, I thought I would do this instead.

We used to get The TV Times, but it began to dwell too much on ‘soaps’ and not being fans of this particular genre of TV, we decided to change to the Radio Times, as they do not seem to focus quite as much attention on this area.
Originally this was called the Radio Times because it mainly listed details of radio programmes, with only a brief listing of TV programmes in the back. It has come a long way since then!

FRONT PAGE

As most of you probably know, this is a TV mag. Therefore the front page usually features a picture of some celebrity or other. This particular issue (31 July – 6 August 2004) has a picture of scientist and TV presenter Adam Hart-Davis, entitled ‘Crazy for You’! This is commonly called ‘the cover story’ and relates to an article inside. This one being about the so-called Top 40 eccentrics on TV.
The name of ‘Radio Times’ is usually in large white letters across the top of this page with the website address in small black letters above it (www.radiotimes.com), and a list of some of the main articles down the left-hand side of the page. Along the bottom of the page is a sentence describing the cover story.

INSIDE

Inside the front cover is usually a full page advert of some kind. The next page has a message from the editor, Gill Hudson, a list of other contributors with a short quote from each and the page where you can find their article. Down the right-hand column is the list of contents and which page they start on. Firstly, the various articles, then the section about films, followed by (the main reason you bought this in the first place(!)) the TV section, finally the radio Section.

ARTICLES

The first article is about their ‘Pick of the Week’. This is a 2 page article divided into days of the week. There are 4 TV programmes chosen for each day, with a brief description plus the time and channel they are shown. The last column is for radio, with 1 or 2 programmes chosen for each day, including a ‘Drama of the Week’ and ‘Concert of the Week’.
The next article listed is the ‘Letters’ page, which is self explanatory. Other articles include a ‘behind the scenes’ look at a popular (or not) TV show, the cover story, various interviews, discussions about some of the programmes showing this week and an article about a popular heroine ( in this case Miss Jean Brodie). There is also a puzzle page near the back, with a column listing various postal and web addresses where you can provide feedback on programmes, articles or adverts.

FILMS

This starts with the chosen ‘Films of the Week’. Approximately half a page on each of the 2 chosen films, explaining why they have been chosen. Next there is the ‘Planner’. This highlights more good films being shown this week, including premieres, followed by a day by day guide to which films are on that week. Next are a couple of half-page articles relating to films or documentaries. The main part of this section is a slightly more detailed description of each film, in date order.

The films are also given a star rating from 1 to 5 stars. This is then followed by a one page ‘Pay per View’ guide for those to whom it applies.

TELEVISION

This is of course the most used section. Starting with Saturday, each day starts with ‘Today’s Choices’. This is a brief description of those choices and why they should be watched. Next, each page is divided into 5 columns, one for each of the terrestrial channels (BBC1+2, ITV and Channels 4+5), listing the programmes in time order with a brief description. This is followed by about 4 pages of the Digital and Cable listings for that day.

RADIO

Well it is called the ‘Radio’ Times after all!! This section starts with a few brief articles including their ‘Pick of the Week’ for radio. This is followed by a daily listing of the 7 main radio stations (BBC Radio 1,2,3,4,5 Live, Classic FM and the BBC World Service).
Next are 2 pages of BBC Local Radio listings including their frequencies. Very Helpful! Then finally 2 pages of Digital Radio listings.

ADVERTS
Of the 240 pages a mere 25 pages are adverts, a few of these being double pages. Personally I think that’s quite an acceptable amount for the size of this magazine!

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All in all, at 90p, I think this is great value for money! I used to read most of the articles and do the competitions at the back (puzzle page). I even won some T-shirts and free cinema tickets once and a large bath towel on another occasion! These days I don’t have time to read all of it, but I still think it’s well worth the money!
Sorry if you think this is a bit long, but there was so much to write about and I found it difficult to summarise.