For their own convenience, the broadcasters have decreed this week to be the first half of the Christmas and New Year fortnight. It's a conceit that falls down only slightly with a quick look at the calendar. Next week's Game Show Times will be the Christmas and New Year double-bill that actually covers New Year.
This week, it's the Strictly Come Dancing final (BBC1, from 7pm Saturday), preceeded by Winter Wipeout (6pm). Channel 4 goes Home for the Holidays (8pm Sunday, 10pm weekdays), and there's a live edition of Millionaire (ITV, 8.30 Monday). Christmas means such delights as University Challenge The Graduates (BBC2, from 7.30 Monday) and World's Strongest Man (C5, from 7pm Tuesday). There's a Celebrity Juice special (ITV2, 10pm Thursday) and a new run of The News Quiz (Radio 4, 6.30 Friday).
Schedules subject to change.
Saturday 17 December
0610 | WTCH | The Weakest Link x2
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0800 | CBBC | The Slammer
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0830 | CBBC | Copycats
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0835 | BBC2 | Splatalot
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1000 | TOON | Ben 10 Ultimate Challenge
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1005 | CBBS | Kerwhizz
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1015 | TV3 | Popstar to Operastar
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1025 | TG4 | Wipeout Usa
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1100 | Rad5 | Fighting Talk | Live from Salford, as part of BBC Celebrates Men's Sport.
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1105 | TV5 | A Table!
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1400 | ITV2 | Family Fortunes
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1425 | BBC1 | Bargain Hunt Famous Finds | Keith Chegwin and Sally James.
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1530 | TV5 | Questions Pour un Champion
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1550 | C4 | Come Dine With Me x5 | HD.
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1625 | BBC2 | One Man and His Dog | From Balmoral Castle. BBC-HD 1715, and extended coverage on The Red Button.
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1730 | BBC1 | A Question of Sport | HD.
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1800 | BBC1 | Winter Wipeout New! | Amanda Byram is cold. HD.
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1900 | BBC1 | Strictly Come Dancing | Live from Blackpool. HD, with additional commentary on BBCi, and in 3d on BBC-HD. Concludes 2105.
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2000 | TV3 | Mr and Mrs Xmas
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2000 | DAVE | QI XL
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2025 | RTE1 | Winning Streak
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2300 | Rad4 | Brain of Britain
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Sunday 18
0625 | WTCH | The Weakest Link
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0700 | C4 | Survival of the Fittest | A muddy obstacle course.
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0705 | DAVE | Dragons' Den
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0940 | MOR4 | Scrapheap Challenge
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1005 | CBBS | Kerwhizz
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1100 | Rad5 | History Repeats Itself
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1204 | Rad4 | I'm Sorry I Haven't a Clue
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1310 | C4 | Shipwrecked | HD.
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1505 | BBC1 | Bargain Hunt Famous Finds | Johnny Ball and Eddie Large. Not Scotland.
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1550 | BBCH | Street Dance Stars x2
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1600 | Mor4 | Come Dine With Me x5
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1630 | CITV | Jungle Run
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1630 | C4 | Deal or No Deal | AudioD.
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1700 | TV3 | The X Factor | The winner's story: out and in.
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1700 | ITV | Family Fortunes | Hollyoaks, Emmerdale.
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1740 | PICK | Four Weddings
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1800 | WTCH | Total Wipe Us Out
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1800 | DAVE | QI XL
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1815 | ITV | Odd One In | Carol Vorderman and Mark Watson. HD.
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1820 | BBC2 | Celebrity Eggheads | Footballers. Also BBC-HD.
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1900 | TV3 | Family Fortunes | This Morning, Emmerdale.
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1915 | Rad4 | Dilemma | Zoe Lyons, Phill Jupitus, Simon Garfield, Humphrey Ker.
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1930 | TG4 | An Jig Gig
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2000 | SKY1 | Got to Dance Special | Previews. HD.
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2000 | C4 | Home for the Holidays New! | An engaged couple bring their relatives to meet Vernon Kay. HD.
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2100 | DAVE | Argumental | Tim Vine and Steven Mangan. HD.
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2240 | DAVE | Mock the Week
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2330 | BBC2 | Never Mind the Buzzcocks | Scotland 0015.
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2345 | BBC1 | Have I Got A Bit More Old News for You | Sue Perkins hosts, Jack Whitehall and Nick Hewer panel. HD. Scot 0045.
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Weekdays
0800 | CBBC | The Slammer
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0800 | BBC2 | Junior Bake Off
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0830 | CBBC | Copycats
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1215 | BBC1 | Bargain Hunt
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1300 | BBC2 | The Weakest Link
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1300 | ESPC | The Superstars | Repeats from the 1970s and 1980s.
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1300 | WTCH | Total Wipe Us Out x2
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1400 | ITV | May the Best House Win
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1430 | CBBC | Total Wipeout
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1435 | MOR4 | Come Dine With Me
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1500 | ITV | Dickinson's Real Deal | HD.
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1505 | MOR4 | Coach Trip
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1530 | TV5 | Questions Pour un Champion
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1600 | C4 | Deal or No Deal | It's pantomime season. Where are the best years of your show? Behind you! AudioD.
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1700 | C4 | Coach Trip | Lapland. HD.
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1700 | ITV | Best Dish - The Chefs | Finals. HD.
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1715 | BBC1 | Pointless
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1730 | C4 | Come Dine With Me | Worcestershire. HD.
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1800 | BBC2 | Celebrity Eggheads | Mon: Irish. Tue: Antiques Road Trippers. Wed: That's Life. Thu: Children's telly. Fri (1750): TV Scientists. Also BBC-HD.
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1800 | CBBC | Splatalot | Not Fr.
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1850 | MOR4 | Come Dine With Me
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1900 | C5 | World's Strongest Man New! | From Tu.
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2200 | 4Mus | 8 Out of 10 Cats | Mo-We only.
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2200 | C4 | Home for the Holidays | HD. Fri 2100.
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Monday 19
0310 | BBC1 | Masterchef The Professionals | Signed.
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0930 | Rd4X | My Music | Christmas 1984.
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1500 | Rad4 | Brain of Britain
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1730 | S4C | Meindia dy Fusnes Selebs | Tudur Phillips, Owain Gwynedd, Geraint Hardy v Glyn Wise, Courtenay Hamilton, Jason Phelps.
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1830 | Rad4 | I'm Sorry I Haven't a Clue | To Watford, where Andy Hamilton entertains, and Jack Dee is in the chair. Last in the series.
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1930 | BBC2 | University Challenge The Graduates New! | York v Manchester.
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2000 | BBC2 | University Challenge | The student series continues. Manchester v UCL. These quarter-finals will last two years.
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2030 | BBC1 | A Question of Sport | Bamzooki's Jake Humphrey, Tim Lovejoy, CAUTION Patrick Kielty, Alistair McGowan. HD.
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2030 | BBC4 | Only Connect | Another chance to see Crossworders v University Challengers.
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2030 | ITV | Who Wants to be a Millionaire Special | A live celebrity edition. HD. TV3 1930 tomorrow.
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2100 | TV3 | The Apprentice | The grand final. The Apprentice You're Hired follows at 2240.
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2200 | BBC2 | Never Mind the Buzzcocks | John Barrowman, Jason Derulo, Joe Wilkinson, Jason Manford, Helen Skelton.
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2200 | CHAL | Britain's Strongest Man 2011
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2305 | E4 | Sorority Girls | How well has the conditioning worked? HD.
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2330 | BBC2 | QI | Also BBC-HD, not NI.
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Tuesday 20
0235 | BBC1 | Masterchef The Professionals | Signed.
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1540 | DAVE | Have I Got News for You
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1930 | BBC2 | University Challenge The Graduates | Durham v Edinburgh. Scotland 1830.
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2100 | DAVE | QI XL
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2100 | LIV | Britain and Ireland's Next Top Model Us | Ivan Bart. HD.
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2100 | LIV2 | The Biggest Loser Australia
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2100 | BBC2 | Mock the Week | Outtakes special.
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2200 | DAVE | Mock the Week
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2200 | E4 | Tool Academy | Last in the series. HD.
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2230 | BBC2 | The Making of QI | Followed by a recent edition. NI 2300.
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2235 | STV | The Cube
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2240 | DAVE | Argumental | HD.
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Wednesday 21
0000 | BBC2 | Shooting Stars | Last year's Christmas special. NI 0030.
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0245 | BBC1 | Masterchef The Professionals | Signed.
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0530 | C4 | Scrapheap Challenge | Blow football. Signed.
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0930 | Rd4X | Whispers
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1900 | BBC2 | University Challenge The Graduates | Magdalen Oxford v UCL. Scotland 1830.
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2000 | SKYA | The Devil's Dinner Party | "I agree with Gary Barlow."
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2030 | TG4 | Ceist GAA le Hector
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2100 | S4C | Rhydian | Escala and Faryl Smith.
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2200 | Rad2 | Tiger Feet Special | Ryan Tubridy traces the story of Riverdance. CAUTION: contains Ryan Tubridy.
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2300 | DAVE | Argumental | HD.
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2340 | BBC2 | QI | Not Scotland.
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Thursday 22
0310 | BBC1 | Masterchef The Professionals | Signed.
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0930 | Rd4x | The 99p Challenge
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1730 | S4C | Sawl Seren Sy' 'Na? | Highlights.
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1930 | BBC2 | University Challenge The Graduates | Warwick v Sheffield.
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2030 | ITV2 | The X Factor Us | It's the final. HD.
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2100 | LIV | Four Weddings Us | And a dancing frog. Kermie! HD.
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2100 | DAVE | Argumental Night | HD.
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2200 | C5 | It's All About Amy | This week, Amy Childs is at the British Pride awards. Remember, Celebrity Juice is on ITV2.
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2200 | ITV2 | Celebrity Juice Special | Amy Childs, Paddy McGuinness, Michelle Keegan.
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2310 | C4 | Chris Moyles' Quiz Night | HD.
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Friday 23
1630 | ITV2 | Mr and Mrs
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1725 | ITV2 | Family Fortunes
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1800 | TOON | Ben 10: Ultimate Challenge
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1830 | Rad4 | The News Quiz New!
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2000 | C4 | Come Dine With Me | Sean Hughes, Gina Yashere, Paul Tonkinson, Duncan Norville. HD.
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2000 | ITV2 | The X Factor Us
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2100 | BBC1 | Have I Got News for You | Martin Clunes hosts. NI 0000.
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2100 | DISC | One Man Army
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2100 | C4 | 8 Out of 10 Cats | Jedward, Micky Flanagan, Liza Tarbuck, Greg Davies.
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2100 | DAVE | QI XL
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2200 | BBC2 | QI | iShow Another Clip Show. Not Scot, NI. Also BBC-HD.
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Channel abbreviations
4MUS | 4 Music
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ABSR | Absolute Radio
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ALBA | BBC Alba
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ARTS | Sky Arts
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BBC1 | BBC1 (Network unless otherwise noted)
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BBC2 | BBC2 (Network unless otherwise noted)
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BBC3 | BBC3
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BBC4 | BBC4
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BBCH | BBC-HD
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BORD | Border (ITV in Cumbria and south-west Scotland)
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C4 | Channel 4
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C5 | Channel 5
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CBBC | CBBC
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CBBS | Cbeebies
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CLAS | Classic FM (Radio)
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DAVE | Dave
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DISN | Disney Channel
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DMAX | D-MAX
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DRT | Discovery Real Time
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ESPC | ESPN Classic
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ESPT | Eurosport
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ESP2 | Eurosport 2
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FDNT | Food Network
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FOOD | UKTV Good Food
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FSTR | 5*
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GOLD | UKTV Gold
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HOME | UKTV Home
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HTV | HTV (ITV in Wales; Wales only unless noted)
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ITV | ITV1 (Network unless otherwise noted)
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ITV2 | ITV2
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ITV3 | ITV3
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ITV4 | ITV4
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LIV | Sky Living
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LIV2 | Sky Living It
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LFC | LFC TV
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MOR4 | More 4
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NICK | Nickelodeon
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PICK | Pick TV
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Rad1 | BBC Radio 1
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Rad2 | BBC Radio 2
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Rad3 | BBC Radio 3
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Rad4 | BBC Radio 4
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Rad5 | BBC Radio 5
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Rad7 | BBC Radio 7
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RCym | BBC Radio Cymru
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RSct | BBC Radio Scotland
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RUls | BBC Radio Ulster
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RWal | BBC Radio Wales
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RLLY | UKTV Really
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RTE1 | RTE1 (Irish)
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RTE2 | RTE2 (Irish)
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RTR1 | RTE Radio 1 (Irish)
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S4CD | S4C Digidol
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SKY1 | Sky 1
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SKY2 | Sky 2
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STV | STV (ITV1 in North and Central Scotland)
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TLKS | Talk Sport (radio)
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TV3 | TV3 (Irish)
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TV5 | TV5 Monde (Europe)
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TG4 | TG 4 (Irish)
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UTV | Ulster Television (ITV1 in Northern Ireland)
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WTCH | Watch
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AudioD - Audio Description for the blind.
HD - Also shown in high-definition.
Signed - in-vision British Sign Language translation.
See also
TV Guide This Week