TV Times (Australia)

TV Times was an Australian magazine, issued weekly, first published as a Sydney-only publication in June 1958. The publication previewed upcoming storylines for popular television programs airing in Australia, featured interviews and a full weekly program guide. It was a long time rival to TV Week magazine until it was incorporated into that magazine in 1980.

History

"TV Times" evolved out of a magazine titled TV News, launched by the ABC in June 1958. It joined rival publications Television Preview, produced by the Television Owners Club of Australia and launched in 1957, and an Australian Consolidated Press magazine titled "TV Times". They were joined in July 1958 by a Sydney edition of TV Week, which had been publishing in Melbourne since December 1957 as TV-Radio Week.

It was thought that four television titles in the market was unsustainable so ACP entered into a co-publishing deal with the ABC, which saw their respective magazines merged to become TV News-Times (soon simplified to TV Times). By the end of the year, Television Preview was incorporated into TV Week, leaving two rival publications in the market for the next two decades. TV Times notably gave far more space and cover stories to ABC programs than its rival.

TV Times began a Melbourne edition in August 1959. Both TV Times and TV Week continued to expand publication as television launched in other capital cities and regional areas across Australia. By 1961, there were editions covering every capital city except Hobart, which received Melbourne editions plus a local supplement.[1]

TV Week introduced a viewer-voted awards from 1958 called the "Logie Awards" (after John Logie Baird), so TV Times created the rival Australian Film and Television Awards called the "Sammy Awards" from 1976.[2]

While TV Times was arguably regarded as more informative, TV Week began to lead by adding matte colour internal pages in 1962, while TV Times did little to stay ahead. In July 1968, when TV Week moved to a larger format, to match that of TV Times, it immediately looked superior to its rival with glossy colour pages and a cleaner layout. Even when TV Times became a full-colour publication, the quality was considered inferior to that of TV Week.

In 1979, Southdown Press introduced a local version of the American "TV Guide". In 1980, the ABC elected to end its agreement with ACP, which purchased the ABC's interest in TV Times. ACP entered into a partnership with News Limited, with TV Times immediately being incorporated into TV Week and the Australian version of TV Guide also incorporated that year. The revamped publication continued to be known as TV Week but was now a joint venture between Australian Consolidated Press and Southdown Press (later Pacific Publications).

References
  1. Chris Keating (18 November 2016). "Television Magazines". Austlit. Retrieved 1 February 2017.
  2. "1979: October 13-19". Television.AU. 2009. Retrieved 1 February 2017.
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