The Radio Times has finally made the leap from paper to pixel in the form of the new DiscoverTV app for iPad.
As you’d expect from an app bearing the Radio Times name, DiscoverTV will let you search for upcoming TV and radio programmes from the next 14 days.
As DiscoverTV is a freemium service, you get this basic functionality thrown in for free. If you want the really fun stuff like reviews, recommendations and a reminder tool you’ll need to subscribe, as you would if you wanted to pick up the physical, printed version.
Read Recombu Digital’s guide to finding your favourite TV shows onlineCosting £2.99/month (or £28.99/year), the premium DiscoverTV service will let you read reviews, watch video trailers and pick from curated lists like ‘10 Best Free Films’ and ‘5 Best Live Sport’. The picked lists are accessed on a rotating wheel that makes it easy for you to jump to lists wherever else you are in the app.
Premium subscribers will also be able to directly access BBC and Channel 4 catch-up content on iPad thanks to Discover TV working with the iPlayer and 4oD apps. Tapping on a programme that you’ve missed will take you straight to that programme, if it’s available.
A free limited service is available without subscription with easy-to use, 14 day customised TV and radio listings, by provider and location, and basic programme information.
“This is the first app designed for the way viewers watch television now. This is a golden age for quality television. Viewers have never enjoyed so much choice. But we want to make it easier to find the good stuff.
“Everyday Radio Times DiscoverTV will guide you to the very best programmes – whether they’re on the traditional main channels, iPlayer, 4oD or new services like Netflix – and help you discover your next favourite show.”
Though the app is iPad-only for now, makers Immediate Media are working other launching versions for other platforms and adding more features in future updates. Though no names have been mentioned yet, we’d be surprised if iPhone and Android versions of DiscoverTV and compatability with services like ITV Player and Demand 5 aren’t in the pipeline.
Download DiscoverTV for iPad for free here.
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