Radio Times > Reviews (13)

I have always been a What’s on TV girl ever since I picked up a copy at my nanas to read. It has got all you need to know about the weeks TV and a big section on the soaps and another plus point the price. It isn’t the cheapest but by far not the most expensive. So what made me have a change to the radio times, Christmas! Last Christmas I decided to try something different I no longer watch all the soaps I had become fed up of them all and prefer to watch something a bit different like documentaries and different dramas. I felt What’s on TV had too bigger section on soaps and I wanted something that gave me a broader section of programmes coming up so I chose the Radio times.

The Radio Times is quite a thick TV magazine and covers a broad range. The current magazine I am looking at has a total of 146 pages. The actual TV guide runs from the Saturday to the following Friday. It is a weekly magazine and costs £1.20 so is at the top end of the TV guide price range but you certainly get plenty for your money. This magazine is more than just a guide.

The first double page spread is the pick of the week section which has a selection of programmes, films and radio they think you shouldn’t miss. Each day is in a column and has a couple of programmes they believe are worth watches followed by a film or two to watch. I find this extremely handy when I am planning my Sky Plus for the week; I never like to miss out on some of the up and coming dramas and one off documentaries.

Following this are some great articles on some of the programmes coming up that week. These articles seem to give you a bit more of a read than you find in the other TV guides. Radio Times seems to concentrate more on quality then quantity. The articles are long and informative and are extremely interesting to read. Reading some of the articles in this magazine has certainly made me decide to watch programmes I may have over looked before.

There is a small section for the coming sport and the soaps. If you are a big soap fan and you are looking for big articles on the latest news then this magazine may not be for you. Soapland is covered by one page and the majority of this is often given up to an actually article about soaps in generally and topics that are hitting the headlines. The current one I am reading is about soaps needing to be careful to not go too dark when broadcasted after the water shed. For the actual up and coming storylines for the week there is only a small section down the right hand side of the page and they only cover the three main soaps generally, Coronation Street, Emmerdale and Eastenders.

The next section is films that are broadcasted for that week. This section is more detailed and some interesting write ups. Each day has a number of film reviews and a film of the day review which contains a little more in its review and stands out on the page. I am not a great film fan but I have found it helps with picking a film out if you decide you want to watch one.

After the films we move onto the fantastic guide Radio Times provides.

You will never be short of things to watch with this brilliant guide. This is the part I love to look through. I have found it more extensive than any other TV guides I have had in the past. Each day is covered over five double spreads so there is certainly a lot to look over. I would guess this would put a fair few people off but for me it adds to the enjoyment.

The first double spread of each day covers the Radio Times choices. There are several choices for that day ranging from dramas, art, documentary, History, sports, children and radio. This is great for reminding you about some of the big programmes on that day. Each choice has a small bit about the programme and what they think. It is extremely handy and I have chosen many programmes to watch from this section.

The next four double page spreads cover the actual guide. The first is the main five channels. Down the left hand side is the five channels listings from 6am to late afternoon then the main section has the channels in columns and ranges from tea time till into the night. The programme information is more extensive in this part. Down the right hand side is a small column with regional variations. The next double page spread is the freeview channels listings like BBC3, ITV4, More 4 Dave etc. The programme descriptions are quite good for these channels and I was impressed with them. Following this is the Satellite and cable channels like Sky 1, Sky Living, Discovery, Watch etc. There are 27 different channels on the double spread so as you can imagine there is little room for programme descriptions. Included in the 27 channels there are CBeebies, CBBC and CITV. The last double page spread is Film and sport channels. The films do take up more room then the sports but there is still room for the major sport channels.

As you would expect from the title it is also a radio magazine, so following the TV listings is the radio section. There are a couple of articles relating to the radio and then you are straight into the radio listings. There is a double page spread of listings for each day and the radio stations they cover are BBC radio 1, BBC radio 2, BBC radio 3, BBC radio 4, Classic FM and a few more. I will admit I don’t look at this section really.

The magazine finishes with a puzzle page, a couple of advertising pages, a feedback page with letters from readers, a missed it section with programmes you can catch up with online and an interview with a celeb on the last page.

So as you can see this magazine is a little bit more and is worth the full price. Will I stick with Radio Times? Well I do really enjoy the magazine and I do get my money’s worth but at £1.20 a week I may have to stop myself from buying it every week. If your after a quick guide to TV I would stick with the likes of What’s on TV but if you’re after something to actually read and get more from then I certainly recommend giving this magazine a go from time to time. This review may be posted on other sites under the same user name