The TV Times was first published on 22 September 1955 to coincide with the launch of Britain’s brand-new television channel, ITV. Up until this point in time, television viewers could only enjoy one channel, BBC One, and they could access listings to that channel through the Radio Times.
A new publication was needed, therefore, to list the television programmes available on ITV. Along came the TV Times, a ‘new paper heralding the opening of a sparkling new era in home entertainment.’
More than simply featuring the television listings, the TV Times magazine was filled to the brim with interviews with the leading stars of the day and peaks behind the scenes into the world of television production.
Initially serving only the London area, as ITV launched further regional stations, the TV Times established its own regional variations. By 1960, the magazine was selling some four million copies a week. On 21 September 1968 the TV Times became a national publication.
In 1991, following the deregulation of television listings, the TV Times began to carry information about BBC programmes for the first time, and the magazine is still in print to this day.
Covering the launch of beloved British television programmes like Coronation Street, The Avengers, The Thunderbirds, The Saint, The Sweeney and Emmerdale, the TV Times is not so much about what people watched, but how they watched it. It is a guide to how television transformed the nation, and it is a fantastic treasure trove of nostalgia, with its bright imagery, celebrations of stars across the decades, and fascinating insights into the TV industry.
At the British Newspaper Archive, we have digitised the London edition of the TV Times, with the exception of the year 1967, which we have sourced from the northern edition.
For this newspaper, we have the following titles in, or planned for, our digital archive:
- 1955–56 TV times (London, England : 1955)
- 1956–77 TV times (London)
- 1967–67 TV times (Northern)
- 1977–80 TV times (Thames/LWT)
