RadioTimes.com FAQs

At the moment, you can log in and use the 'Follow' or 'Watchlist' buttons to add items to your watchlist and they will show up there, as well as being highlighted on the listings grid.

We are still working on getting legacy data back, so that programmes added to a Watchlist in the past show up again.

We would recommend that in the meantime you use the 'Follow' or 'Watchlist' buttons to add programmes to your watchlist as it may take some time to recover the legacy data.

What do the “Follow” button and Watchlist do?

Pressing “Follow” on a programme or film will mean that your Watchlist shows you whenever it is broadcast on TV or radio and where it is available on demand. Your Watchlist can be filtered to show just new episodes of a programme or both new episodes and repeats.

How do I get to my watchlist?

If you log in you should see a link to 'Watchlist' at the top right of the site, as well as on the listings page. This will take you to the Watchlist page that you have created by following programmes.

What’s happened to the Your Programmes feature?

Your Programmes has been replaced by the new Watchlist. The Watchlist is an improvement on the older functionality as it allows you to track any programme or film you like - not just ones that are currently broadcasting - and it also shows you where you can find them on demand.

You can also use the Watchlist without signing in if you like, although we recommend you do so to make sure that it isn’t lost and to enable you to see it on different computers.

Unfortunately, because the Watchlist works differently, it was very difficult for us to migrate programmes you have added to Your Programmes - but we’ve made it very easy to “follow” programmes on the new site.

We’ll be adding more features to the Watchlist over the coming mpnths. We’ll soon give you the option to follow your favourite people - actors, directors, writers - and see next time they are on TV, or where you can find them on demand.

Why do you no longer offer the pop-up option in the listings?

Most websites are moving away from the use of pop-up windows as they aren’t very search-engine-friendly and also don’t work well with new web browsers on tablets, phones and so on. Research also shows that users are often more comfortable with using the back button rather than having multiple pop-up windows.

Where have the VideoPlus+ numbers gone?

VideoPlus+ charges us to include its numbers. Our research shows that not many of our users use them any more so we’ve decided not to renew our licence. If we discover there is a bigger demand than we had anticipated, then we may look at reintroducing them.

Can I use my old log-in?

Yes, simply enter the email address that you registered with and your existing password. We’ll also give you the option to provide some additional details and to customise your channels the first time you sign in.

Why do I need to sign in with my email address and not my old username?

We’re asking users to sign in with their email address now as people generally find it easier to remember their email address rather than having to remember yet another username. It also means that we know that the email address is still active, allowing us to get in touch if there is ever a problem with your account.

We’re sending emails to all of our existing registered users to remind them. If you’ve forgotten your email address, then you may need to create a new account.

Why are you asking for more details when I sign in?

We request details of your TV package to make sure we only show you programmes airing on the channels that you receive. And we ask for your sex, age and favourite genres just to give us a little more to go on when making personalised recommendations to you. We use this as intelligently as possible and in combination with other information (and won’t just show you Top Gear because you’re a boy...).

We may also use this information to make sure that the advertising we display is relevant and therefore less likely to annoy you. We promise we won’t share this info with anyone else.

Why are you offering Facebook and Twitter sign-in?

To make signing in as easy as possible, we’re offering the option to use your Facebook or Twitter log-in instead of creating an account with Radio Times if you prefer.

When you sign in with either of these, you’ll be presented with a standard page that is provided by either Facebook or Twitter asking for permission to use your account. We promise that we won’t post anything on your behalf or use your account for something that we don’t ask your permission for first.

We’ll also be looking at offering other sign-in options such as Google.

What are you doing to make the site accessible to users with visual impairments?

The site has been built with accessibility in mind, however we’re currently doing a full accessibility audit using an external specialist and making improvements based on the findings.

This includes adjusting the contrast of some of the colours, ensuring all images have alt tags and looking at the semantic mark up of pages.

Why can’t I select multiple regions/packages?

The site at the moment only allows you to select one region or package. We’re looking at allowing more than one to be selected as we realise that this is important to some of you.

Why have you picked the page width you have?

We’ve had comments from users asking for the page to be both wider and narrower. We’ve chosen the current width as we believe it provides the best experience for most people.

We support all but the smallest screen resolutions. Like most modern websites, we’ve stopped supporting 800x600 resolution as we know only 0.4% of our users still use this. It’s also possible to increase the text size so for users who require bigger text, we recommend this approach rather than a small screen resolution.

We think that providing a consistent fixed size of page is aesthetically the best approach and most appropriate for pages where you read text. It also allows us to include advertising on the background of the page in a less intrusive manner. Instead of providing additional hours, we’ve made the listings grid navigate as quickly as possible without page refreshes. However, we are exploring options to provide a view with more hours for users with large screen resolutions.

How do I enter Word Finder?

We now only accept entries to Word Finder via email. Full details are in the magazine. The email address for this week’s entry is wf50@radiotimescomps.co.uk. The number will change each week, so next week’s will be wf51@radiotimescomps.co.uk and so on...

Does Radio Times have any apps?

We currently have Discover TV for iPad, iPhone and Android, as well as RadioTimes Soaps for iOS.