How the radar works
The radar looks ahead from now. A programme starts on the outer ring at the edge of the time window you choose (anything from 15 minutes to 6 hours, with the zoom slider or by pinching on a phone) and moves in towards the centre as its start time gets closer. When it reaches the middle it is on air, and its name flashes up in red.
The sweep arm goes round once every ten seconds. As it passes a blip, the blip glows and its name lights up for a couple of seconds, then fades until the arm comes round again, so the screen stays readable even with hundreds of programmes on it.
Open the Controls panel in the top-left corner of the radar to cut it down: just films, just sport, just children’s TV, or only new episodes and live broadcasts. For a full schedule laid out by channel and time, use the TV guide grid on our homepage, or open a channel such as the BBC One TV guide.
Questions about the radar
How do I read the TV Radar?
The centre of the radar is the time now. Each channel has its own bearing around the edge, and each blip is a programme on that channel. The closer a blip is to the centre, the sooner it starts. The dashed rings are clock times, and they move inwards with the programmes.
What do the colours mean?
Orange is a regular programme, pink a film, blue sport and yellow children's TV. A red ring around a blip means a new episode or a live broadcast. Bigger blips are longer programmes.
Which channels are on the radar?
By default the 20 biggest free channels, from BBC One to Yesterday. Choose All channels to see every channel in the guide, or pick Freeview, Freesat, Sky, Virgin or another platform to use that platform's channels.
What does Fast forward do?
It runs the radar at one minute a second, so you can watch the evening roll in. Press Live to go back to the real time.
Can I see more about a programme?
Yes. Tap or click a blip, or a programme in the Next on the radar list, to see its time, episode details and buttons to add it to your calendar.
