Christmas TV 2018

They are all 15-21 Dec versions... Apart from the two high stacks, Radio Times on the left from part way down as you can see on the edge, the bottom of the brown coat the boy wears on the front cover going down the stack. The right stack is TV Choice, as the top cover says "£1.20" and "Double Issue"

This is not a new phenomenon. In many years gone by, the Radio Times have often had a Doctor Who-based cover on the pre-Christmas issue, even though it's not on during that week. The Christmas TV schedule is still big business and the TV guides like to start promoting it as early as possible.

Indeed, these days the December issues of the Radio Times specifically and the TV guides in general as just as likely to feature a Christmas programme, under the guise of a preview, than anything on this week. Last week's Radio Times had The ABC Murders on the cover. It makes sort of sense editorially because it means they can give covers and features to programmes that they can't do when they're on at Christmas.

I remember reading they would often do a Who cover the week before Christmas as that issue was usually the lowest selling issue of the year - what with it coming out at a weird time and then almost immediately ceding space on the shelves to the Christmas one - so it would pep up sales a bit.

Haha yeah the holiday supplements are always a bugger to remove. In 2014 I had to return my copy to the store where I bought it after I found a printing issue on some of the pages...

The supplements aren't anywhere near as irritating as those flyers that are bound inside pretty much every week.

Probably in the wrong thread but CBBC have started their Christmas presentation today. Same idents as last year currently

I spotted Virgin Media One in our neighbours of Ireland with a Christmas ident recently
It's the same as when it was TV3 last year, but with the VM One logo replacing the old 3 logo

Seems like the music's been changed too

Over on Virgin Two, they're decking the halls with a simple Christmas ident, featuring red and white baubles sprouting out from the logo


And on Three, they have white Christmas trees popping up around the logo

Apologies for the kid breathing. Some Irish kid recorded this, not me

The RTÉ Guide Christmas bumper edition is officially out in Ireland today. It is out in the shops for €3.99 or £2.99 in NI. It has quite an interesting change for this year's Christmas edition of the guide. It does not have any faces of current RTÉ personalities on the front cover. It has an special illustration cover for this year's edition which is about a Children's Christmas story which is contained within the fold out front cover & five other pages. The other pages featuring the story is in Page 4, 35, 147, 161 & 178.

Here is the front cover image, both in single & fold out form, from Facebook.

It was designed by Wicklow artist Marie-Louise Fitzpatrick.

Is the Irish tv mag market the same as ours, in that they all contain all channels (despite the RTE Guide being called the RTE guide) and they come out weekly on a Tuesday?

It contains all Irish channels and I believe they've been allowed to include British listings since they were deregulated in 1991.

I presume "Christmas begins with the [magazine name]" wouldn't annoy Applemask as much as "It's the legendary Christmas double issue!"

I've noticed Sky One are showing The Greatest Showman on Christmas Day. This seems an unusually short gap between the cinema release and a non-Sky Cinema broadcast for such a popular film, or is this normal?