tv guides

[glenis]

why do tv guides ,radio times, tv times, tv and satellite week.etc etc ,all start on a saturday?

[texol]

because they just do, does it really matter

[tonymclark]

Radio Times was the first of these publications, so it was presumably the then editor that set the trend.

It still doesn't answer your question.

I know that for a long time Radio Times was released on a Thursday, so only two days before the issue started.

Maybe it's because the weekend is the best time to sit down and choose your week's viewing ? Or that radio programme planners reguarded Saturday as the start of the week.

[beejaybee]

They may start on a Saturday but can be bought on a TUESDAY. Much too early.

[jas1002]

Is it because it's the start of the weekend?

(well not for me. I work shifts)

[reinganum]

Radio Times ran listings Sunday-Saturday from its first issue in September 1923 until the issue of 30 September 1960 (covering 2-8 October). Issues were dated the Friday before the week started.

From the issue of 6 October 1960 (Thursday) onwards, Radio Times had a complete redesign and listings ran Saturday-Friday. TV Times, then the only other listings magazine (for copyright reasons) carried on running Sunday-Saturday for a few months, but eventually fell into step with RT.

The reason was that the Editor of RT felt that the weekend was too important to be split between two consecutive issues. They also thought it would be better to start the issue with the weekend and run Sat-Fri rather than run Mon-Sun. Readers would have more time to look through the mag at weekend, also.

It's possible also that feedback from the public might have influenced the Editor's decision but pressure from advertisers is more likely.