TVTimes

The magazine was launched on 22 September 1955, at the start of transmissions of the first ITV station, Associated-Rediffusion. Initially, the magazine was published only in the London area, carrying listings for Associated-Rediffusion (Rediffusion, London from 1964) on weekdays and ATV at weekends, while the other ITV regional companies were served by their own listings magazines before TV Times became a national magazine on 21 September 1968.

The magazine was branded as TV Times Magazine from 3 October 1981 until 6 October 1984, the premise being it contained more than simply television listings. From November 1982 onwards, it carried listings for Channel 4 and its Welsh equivalent, S4C. On 7 October 1989, the programme schedule pages were finally printed in full colour for the first time. When the television listings were deregulated on 1 March 1991, TV Times began carrying listings for the BBC's television channels, which up to that point had only been printed in the BBC's official listings magazine, Radio Times.[2] On 11 February 2006, the magazine was refreshed for a more modern look including the double-page highlights of programmes on all channels, plus radio and kids' television listings were scrapped, increasing its emphasis on big-star interviews and soaps.

Originally published by Independent Television Publications (an association of the ITV companies), before the magazine was acquired by IPC Media in 1989, which became Time Inc. UK in 2014.[3]

Prior to September 1968, several of the regional ITV companies produced their own listings magazines:

From 1956 to 1964, the Midlands originally had their own edition of TV Times listing ATV and ABC programmes, but a separate listings magazine in the Midlands called TV World from 27 September 1964, with the innovative idea of splitting the magazine itself 50:50, with a second cover in the middle allowing for the magazine to be folded over to create both a weekend and a weekday magazine from one publication, before TV Times went national on 21 September 1968.

During the late 1950s until the early 1980s, TV Times suffered frequent printing disputes that often meant emergency or special combined editions.

On 1 March 1991, TV Times published BBC1 and BBC2 programme listings for the first time, which also the 11 regional editions that generally referred to by the ITV company's name rather than geographical area:

Every ITV regional area originally had its own version, but since 2006 there have been only four editions:

• Look-in
• Radio Times
• What's on TV
• TV & Satellite Week
• Television in the United Kingdom

• TV Times website
• TV Times Index Project (TVTip) – Database of TV Times listings 1955 – 1985