RadioTimes has been sold

[Nick Dando]

From the BBC News website

BBC News - BBC sells Radio Times as part of £121m sell-off

Nick

16 August 2011 Last updated at 16:39

BBC sells Radio Times as part of £121m sell-off


Radio Times will be sold off


BBC Magazines has agreed to sell the Radio Times to Exponent, a company whose assets include the website thetrainline.com.
BBC Magazines will also sell 10 non-BBC branded titles including Gardens Illustrated and Olive to Exponent.
Other BBC titles, including Top Gear, Gardeners' World and Lonely Planet will be published by Exponent under licence.
BBC Magazines was put up for sale in September as part of BBC Worldwide's plans to focus more on digital media.
BBC Magazines is part of the BBC's commercial arm, BBC Worldwide.
Most of the proceeds from the sale will go back to the BBC to help it invest in content at a time when its licence fee has been frozen.
Exponent, which owns a diverse range of businesses including handbags, used to own the Times Educational Supplement.


International focus
The final agreement needs Office of Fair Trading approval but is expected to go through in the autumn, when most BBC Magazines staff will transfer to the new company.
At the same time, BBC Worldwide's 50% shareholding in Indian joint venture, Worldwide Media Ltd, which distributes Grazia and Hello magazines in India and which BBC Worldwide were urged to offload following the strategy review, is being sold to Times of India owner Bennett, Coleman and Co.
John Smith, the chief executive of BBC Worldwide said: "The deal announced today offers the best prospects for the magazines business to continue on this path of success, while BBC Worldwide pursues a strategy increasingly focused on international video and digital services."
Although headline sales were marginally down over the last year, profits for BBC Magazines were up by 9%, or £1.8m, with strong subscription figures and growth from specialist titles such as Good Food and Olive.

[paul kersey]

£121 million ?, they were robbed. I bought one today for £1.20.
Seriously though, I hope that they arrest the decline into trivia and improve the TV listings. The only reason I buy RT is to check whats on the box and I am not at all impressed with the fact that daytime drama does not have episode titles or cast lists.

[Nick Dando]

I'd like to see better listings for the radio as, although I don't like digital radio very much and I can't record the programmes to the quality I'd like (through the FreeView box, as a decent tuner to replace my Naim NAT03 would be prohibitively expensive), the entries for the BBC's digital stations are too cramped and difficult to decipher, and I know I'm missing many interesting programmes.

Nick

[GRAEME]

The acceleration of the end for RT? It is already going down market - a more commercial approach will send it straight to soap/celeb-obsessed hell.

[Rick C]

This is the disaster we have (not) been waiting for. Put 10years on me , I can tell you!

[wadey]

Does anybody buy it ?

[paul kersey]

Does anybody buy it ?

Well I do for one. Up until it's last revamp I found it to be the best TV/Radio Listings magazine. However it now seems to have dumbed down a lot and rely on Dr Who to fill it's pages and presumably attract a customer base. It now seems very similar to all the listings mags and that is not a good thing.

[dremble wedge]

Well I do for one. Up until it's last revamp I found it to be the best TV/Radio Listings magazine

I used to buy it until said revamp, when they squashed the entire day's schedule onto a single page. A change of ownership may mean an improved magazine. We can but hope...

[Edward G]

Agreed. In it's glory days the capsule summaries and cast/credit listings were excellent.

£121 million ?, they were robbed. I bought one today for £1.20.
Seriously though, I hope that they arrest the decline into trivia and improve the TV listings. The only reason I buy RT is to check whats on the box and I am not at all impressed with the fact that daytime drama does not have episode titles or cast lists.

[wadey]

When I did my paper round in the mid 60s virtually every house got a morning paper, most an evening paper and everybody a Radio Times, funny how things have changed

[GRAEME]

Well I do for one. Up until it's last revamp I found it to be the best TV/Radio Listings magazine. However it now seems to have dumbed down a lot and rely on Dr Who to fill it's pages and presumably attract a customer base. It now seems very similar to all the listings mags and that is not a good thing.

I also buy it - have a subscription because it is cheaper. It has cramped up the space dedicated to the terrestrial channels. But that was to be expected really with the huge number of freeview and other channels most viewers now can access - and want information about. None of the other listings mags give the detail RT still does, even if there has been a reduction on the five main channels.

The articles have dumbed down steadily over the years. Who'd have thought there'd be soap pages in the RT! And yes, way too much Dr Who! Always on the cover when it is on, and even sometimes when it isn't - because the fan boys will buy it for their collections.

But it is still the only half-way intelligent listings magazine. The film pages are good. I like Alison Graham's TV crit.

I'd hate to see it sink further.

The only alternative is the Guardian's Saturday guide mag - but it is so wretchedly small!

[Dame Starry]

£121 million ?, they were robbed. I bought one today for £1.20.............I am not at all impressed with the fact that daytime drama does not have episode titles or cast lists.

One of the main reasons I stopped buying it.

The online website Radio Times has most cast lists, you can often see further ahead than one issue PLUS, and here's the bonus, IT'S FREE!

[zettel45]

One of the main reasons I stopped buying it.

The online website Radio Times has most cast lists, you can often see further ahead than one issue PLUS, and here's the bonus, IT'S FREE!

I use this too. It's not bad as a quick "what's on" reference, though the features are a bit ropey. The layout is also not the most user-friendly I've ever known (must admit, the beta version is an improvement).

[Ray]

Does anybody buy it ?

Yes, because although it is no way as good as it ised to be, it is still far better than any of its rivals.

[Moor Larkin]

I imagine the first thing the new owners might do is to stop calling it the Radio Times...........

[bobsterkent]

bought it for some 20 years and yes its gone downhill, not sure now its a commercail magazine that i will bother to buy it anymore

[alan french]

Hi,
The BBC has been changing direction for sometime. This is another example. Only time will tell if this is a good move. I used to buy it. But because of advanced information spoiling programmes like EastEnders, leaking out from other sources, and spoiling my enjoyment, I stopped watching the programme. This meant I did not see programmes that were on or before EastEnders and was not captured for the evening. My viewing dropped considerebly. I therefore stopped buying it regularly. I do buy it very occasionally. I still watch Doctor Who, but not much else.

I think that the days of the BBC as a British institution are coming to an end. That is, if they have not already. Because what other things will they sell? In fact, what is, or will be of left of the BBC.

Alan French.

[Steve Crook]

Hi,
The BBC has been changing direction for sometime. This is another example. Only time will tell if this is a good move. I used to buy it. But because of advanced information spoiling programmes like EastEnders, leaking out from other sources, and spoiling my enjoyment, I stopped watching the programme. This meant I did not see programmes that were on or before EastEnders and was not captured for the evening. My viewing dropped considerebly. I therefore stopped buying it regularly. I do buy it very occasionally. I still watch Doctor Who, but not much else.

I think that the days of the BBC as a British institution are coming to an end. That is, if they have not already. Because what other things will they sell? In fact, what is, or will be of left of the BBC.

Alan French.

That's what Murdoch has been aiming for for ages. He's got his tame politicians to cut back on the percentage of the licence fee and other grants that the BBC gets and he gets all of his newspapers to knock the BBC wherever possible.

As for the Radio Times, I've been buying it for years and will probably continue to do so unless it goes seriously down-market to try to match the other listings magazines. The Radio Times isn't perfect, but it's better than all the other listings magazines by a long way.

I get my Radio Times on the Tuesday and then in any spare time during the rest of the week I mark up anything that looks interesting. I rarely watch anything as it is broadcast. I record all the things I've marked as looking like they might be interesting. When I play the recordings, if they aren't as interesting as I thought they were going to be, then I just skip on to the next programme.

Steve

[Onedin]

I buy the Radio Times too, over here in Holland. I have an address that will get a few copies and leave one behind the counter for me to pick up on Friday (it gets here that morning).

[GRAEME]

One thing that would enhance the listings would be an indication of what will and won't be available on catch-up. I've been caught out a couple of times not recording a show I'd presumed would be on catch-up only to find it isn't.

Aside from that, there is surely a place in the market for a reasonably intelligent and erudite listings mag for TV and radio. And the BBC were the ones to provide it.

I'm still pining for The Listener! I'd hate to lose the RT too.