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Why does network primetime programming start at 8 PM on the East and West Coasts (Instead of 7 PM as it is in the Rockies and Midwest)?
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You could put it here because the reasons go
back to the early days of television. In the
heyday of network radio, the networks found
that people tended to listen mainly between
7 and 9 PM, then turned off the radio, did the
dishes, got ready for bed, etc. When television
came along, they found that people did chores
first, then settled down in front of the tube.
Originally, CBS and NBC aired 15 minutes of news
and 15 minutes of music with people like Perry Como
and Dinah Shore from 7:30-8, starting their regular
entertainment shows at 8. ABC, in order to counter
and get a head start on the evening's viewing, put
its newscast at 7:15 in 1953, with primetime starting
at 7:30.
By the 1954-55 season ABC had three especially
popular shows at 7:30: "Disneyland," "The Lone Ranger,"
and "Rin Tin Tin." That prompted CBS to follow suit in
the fall of 1955 and it came up with three winners as
well: "Robin Hood," "Name That Tune," and "Sgt. Preston
Of The Yukon." NBC held out until 1957.
Then in 1970 the FCC decreed that the networks would
have to give back a half-hour in order to grant local entities
and small production companies whose shows weren't making
it to the networks "access" to the airwaves. The Prime Time
Access Rule went into effect in the fall of 1971; the networks
themselves chose to give 7:30 back to the affiliates, as the
audience at that time tended to be children and older people.
The first year, the networks started primetime at 7:30 some
nights, 8 PM others; the second year CBS and NBC started at
7:30 on Sundays, otherwise primetime started at 8. In 1975
the FCC allowed a 7 PM start on Sundays provided the first
hour was devoted to public affairs ("60 Minutes") or children's
programming (Disney). To make
a long story short, PTAR no longer exists but no affiliate is
going to give back 7:30 (although primetime starts at 7 on
Sundays).
Theoretically, too, the whole country could be placed on a
"clock time" schedule, with primetime 8 to 11 in all time zones.
The Central time zone was put on a 7 PM start back when the
technology forced its stations to go along with the East Coast,
and the networks assume that people are used to network news
at 5:30, primetime from 7-10, and late-night shows at 10:35
in the Central time zone. Someone else will have to tell you
why the Mountain time zone also goes 7-10; that time zone has
been a crazy patchwork of scheduling in the past.
While not an exhaustive history, I hope this answers some of
your questions.
back to the early days of television. In the
heyday of network radio, the networks found
that people tended to listen mainly between
7 and 9 PM, then turned off the radio, did the
dishes, got ready for bed, etc. When television
came along, they found that people did chores
first, then settled down in front of the tube.
Originally, CBS and NBC aired 15 minutes of news
and 15 minutes of music with people like Perry Como
and Dinah Shore from 7:30-8, starting their regular
entertainment shows at 8. ABC, in order to counter
and get a head start on the evening's viewing, put
its newscast at 7:15 in 1953, with primetime starting
at 7:30.
By the 1954-55 season ABC had three especially
popular shows at 7:30: "Disneyland," "The Lone Ranger,"
and "Rin Tin Tin." That prompted CBS to follow suit in
the fall of 1955 and it came up with three winners as
well: "Robin Hood," "Name That Tune," and "Sgt. Preston
Of The Yukon." NBC held out until 1957.
Then in 1970 the FCC decreed that the networks would
have to give back a half-hour in order to grant local entities
and small production companies whose shows weren't making
it to the networks "access" to the airwaves. The Prime Time
Access Rule went into effect in the fall of 1971; the networks
themselves chose to give 7:30 back to the affiliates, as the
audience at that time tended to be children and older people.
The first year, the networks started primetime at 7:30 some
nights, 8 PM others; the second year CBS and NBC started at
7:30 on Sundays, otherwise primetime started at 8. In 1975
the FCC allowed a 7 PM start on Sundays provided the first
hour was devoted to public affairs ("60 Minutes") or children's
programming (Disney). To make
a long story short, PTAR no longer exists but no affiliate is
going to give back 7:30 (although primetime starts at 7 on
Sundays).
Theoretically, too, the whole country could be placed on a
"clock time" schedule, with primetime 8 to 11 in all time zones.
The Central time zone was put on a 7 PM start back when the
technology forced its stations to go along with the East Coast,
and the networks assume that people are used to network news
at 5:30, primetime from 7-10, and late-night shows at 10:35
in the Central time zone. Someone else will have to tell you
why the Mountain time zone also goes 7-10; that time zone has
been a crazy patchwork of scheduling in the past.
While not an exhaustive history, I hope this answers some of
your questions.
Ah yes the Prime Time Access Rule...one of two big backfired FCC rulings from the 70s. The other one was "Family Viewing Hour". PTAR was supposed to be local time, with innovative programming like PM Magazine. Now if you're station isn't carrying a pair of game shows it's usually carrying sitcoms or who's shaving their head in Hollywood next... :
In any case, for Mountain time I think being 7-10 is a good idea. Otherwise you'll be either 6-9, if you look at KELO's sister satelliate KCLO in Rapid City SD, or be 9-12 if they took the Pacific feed. Who in early to bed early to rise timezone wants that?
Also, there are some California stations that have tried going 7-10 within the last decade. Both KRON(when it was NBC) and KPIX in the Bay Area did for awhile, and CBS O&O KOVR still does I believe.
In any case, for Mountain time I think being 7-10 is a good idea. Otherwise you'll be either 6-9, if you look at KELO's sister satelliate KCLO in Rapid City SD, or be 9-12 if they took the Pacific feed. Who in early to bed early to rise timezone wants that?
Also, there are some California stations that have tried going 7-10 within the last decade. Both KRON(when it was NBC) and KPIX in the Bay Area did for awhile, and CBS O&O KOVR still does I believe.
"there are some California stations that have tried going 7-10 within the last decade. Both KRON(when it was NBC) and KPIX in the Bay Area did for awhile"
This was a major disaster for both KPIX and KRON. KPIX (CBS affiliate, but not then an O&O) decided to go "early prime" because it had worked for the CBS affiliate in Sacramento. They wanted the supposed higher revenue from running their news at 10:00 - they thought they could take a big hunk out of KTVU's (Fox) hugt 10 O'Clock news ratings. They probably thought they'd do it alone.
But KRON (NBC) decided to follow suit - they both went early prime, which left only the ABC O&O (KGO-TV) with prime time shows at 10:00 and news at 11:00. The results was predictable - the big winners were ABC prime-time shows, and KGO-TV's 11:00 News, which now had no competition. Neither KRON or KPIX made much of a dent in KTVU's news ratings, and the CBS and NBC network shows now running at 7:00 lost ratings. To add insult to injury, KGO-TV picked up Jeopardy and Wheel of Fortune from KRON because KRON could no longer run the shows at 7:00. Big fat boo-boo for both stations.
This was a major disaster for both KPIX and KRON. KPIX (CBS affiliate, but not then an O&O) decided to go "early prime" because it had worked for the CBS affiliate in Sacramento. They wanted the supposed higher revenue from running their news at 10:00 - they thought they could take a big hunk out of KTVU's (Fox) hugt 10 O'Clock news ratings. They probably thought they'd do it alone.
But KRON (NBC) decided to follow suit - they both went early prime, which left only the ABC O&O (KGO-TV) with prime time shows at 10:00 and news at 11:00. The results was predictable - the big winners were ABC prime-time shows, and KGO-TV's 11:00 News, which now had no competition. Neither KRON or KPIX made much of a dent in KTVU's news ratings, and the CBS and NBC network shows now running at 7:00 lost ratings. To add insult to injury, KGO-TV picked up Jeopardy and Wheel of Fortune from KRON because KRON could no longer run the shows at 7:00. Big fat boo-boo for both stations.
bpatrick said:
Actually both CBS and ABC aired plenty of shows between 6:00 and 6:30 PM Central time in the 1960's and into the early 70's on Sunday nights. Lassie, the most obvious in which the show lasted 17 years on Sunday nights on CBS, Dennis The Menace(CBS), My Favorite Martian(CBS), It's About Time(CBS), Gentle Ben(CBS), To Rome With Love(CBS), the last season of Hogan's Heroes in 1970-1971 aired on Sunday nights at 6:30 PM Central on CBS, Voyage To The Bottom Of The Sea(ABC), Land Of The Giants(ABC), and The Young Rebels(ABC). And of course for 20 years on NBC(1961-1981), The Wonderful World Of Disney/The Wonderful World Of Color/Disney's Wonderful World.
Sunday is an anomaly, always has been,
but you're right that the networks have
had shows at 7 (ET)--actually, at least
as far back as 1948. Ted Mack's Amateur
Hour, the first number-one primetime show,
aired at that time on DuMont from January
1948 to September 1949.
There have also been a few shows at 7
on Saturday, although I can't think of any
since Beany And Cecil on ABC in 1962.
but you're right that the networks have
had shows at 7 (ET)--actually, at least
as far back as 1948. Ted Mack's Amateur
Hour, the first number-one primetime show,
aired at that time on DuMont from January
1948 to September 1949.
There have also been a few shows at 7
on Saturday, although I can't think of any
since Beany And Cecil on ABC in 1962.
I went to college in Montana, and at that time there were VERY few stations there. The only 2 we could receive were affiliated with all 3 networks, and essentially the station PDs just did a weekly "pick-n-choose" about what they would air. The NBC Wednesday night movie could easily air on Friday and all sorts of other interesting choices. "Prime Time" there started at 7pm, but everything was offset, the traditional local news time of 6pm started at 5, and the net news was all over the place. From what I understood, they often taped a feed and then played it when it fit, which could be 530, 6 0r 630. The Primetime Access Rule had been passed by then, but it worked very impractically there. Oh, and everytime a moose got in the way of a microwave horn, the feed to the xmtr went out, and there you sat with a blank screen.
bpatrick said:
The Lawrence Welk Show on ABC, I think, spent its entire 16 year network run on Saturday nights at 6:30 Central.
In the late 60's and early 70's, several network series appeared at 6:30 Central time on Saturday nights: Adam-12 on NBC in its 1st season(later moving to 7:30 Central after Andy Williams in 1969), Mission: Impossible on CBS during the 1970-1971 season, and The Andy Williams Show on NBC from 1969 to 1971.
Braves2005 said:
In the Central time zone Welk aired at 8 from July 1955 to September 1963,
at 7:30 from September 1963 to January 1971, and at 6:30 from January to
September 1971.
While your information is correct, otherwise, remember that primetime started at 7:30 Eastern/6:30 Central, except on Sundays (7/6 Central) before the access rule went into effect. I mentioned Beany And Cecil, which aired at 6 PM Central on Saturdays in 1962. Unfortunately, I'm missing your point; the original question, basically, is why primetime starts at 8 on the two coasts but 7 in the Central and Mountain time zones.
genius said:
The funny thing is that PTAR did have a positive effect, but not one that the FCC anticipated.
By clearing network entertainment and off-network reruns from the 7 PM to 8 PM hour (Eastern and Pacific), the PTAR essentially gave independent stations in the top 50 markets a monopoly on some of the most successful programming during that one hour. The result was the independent television stations really started taking off during the 70s, which led to the proliferation of independent stations in smaller markets in the eighties.
The proliferation of independent stations, in turn, resulted in a sufficient number of four (or more) station markets by the mid-eighties, thereby making the launch of a fourth national TV network (Fox) viable. Those stations also provided a carriage platform to support a thriving market in first run syndicated entertainment and childrens programming during the eighties and first half of the nineties.
Unfortunately, the consolidation allowed as a result of various deregulatory measures in the nineties essentially killed off that thriving marketplace for first run entertainment programs by the end of the nineties. But that's another story and another set of issues.
The times started in radio and carried over to TV. It's easy to forget how unpopulated the west was in the 30s. Outside of California, there wasn't much. In fact until 1910 San Francisco was bigger than Los Angeles.
The radio networks begain most of their programming at 8pm on the east coast but there was a huge problem. At the time virtually all the music had to be done live due to union rules. Bing Crosby's radio show was the first to get an exemption from this in the 40s.
Even though radio shows were rather easy to do, all you did was read a script, and it didn't call for that much rehersal. In fact Frank Nelson tells how Jack Benny would put him in the first half the radio show so he could run across Manhattan, and get to the next radio show.
So it was simply decided to let the prime time of radio go out at 8pm Eastern and 7pm central so the radio stars wouldn't have to do another show. It also helped because radio signals on AM could be received far distances it helped NOT to have the show on more than once. They could sell higher ad times.
California though did have people so the radio networks put out another feed for California and the west coast. Because NYC prime radio started at 8pm, the networks did the same for California. This meant radio shows did two shows live. One for the East (and ineffect the Central time zone) and one for California. Jack Benny said the California show was often funnier because the actors would have a few drinks waiting for it to air and flubbed up more.
What about the mountain states? Who cared? As hard as it is to imagine there wasn't a huge population, for example Phoenix the fifth largest city in America today with almost 1.5 million people had 45,000 people in 1940. In fact outside of the Pacific Coast, Spokane, Salt Lake City and Denver were the only cities with populations of over 100,000.
So they made do with whatever they could get.
When TV surpassed radio, TV adopted the same guidelines. Surveys indicate that people like the prime time they were brought up with. Central time zones LOVE the 7pm start. While East and West coast like the later 8pm start.
The radio networks begain most of their programming at 8pm on the east coast but there was a huge problem. At the time virtually all the music had to be done live due to union rules. Bing Crosby's radio show was the first to get an exemption from this in the 40s.
Even though radio shows were rather easy to do, all you did was read a script, and it didn't call for that much rehersal. In fact Frank Nelson tells how Jack Benny would put him in the first half the radio show so he could run across Manhattan, and get to the next radio show.
So it was simply decided to let the prime time of radio go out at 8pm Eastern and 7pm central so the radio stars wouldn't have to do another show. It also helped because radio signals on AM could be received far distances it helped NOT to have the show on more than once. They could sell higher ad times.
California though did have people so the radio networks put out another feed for California and the west coast. Because NYC prime radio started at 8pm, the networks did the same for California. This meant radio shows did two shows live. One for the East (and ineffect the Central time zone) and one for California. Jack Benny said the California show was often funnier because the actors would have a few drinks waiting for it to air and flubbed up more.
What about the mountain states? Who cared? As hard as it is to imagine there wasn't a huge population, for example Phoenix the fifth largest city in America today with almost 1.5 million people had 45,000 people in 1940. In fact outside of the Pacific Coast, Spokane, Salt Lake City and Denver were the only cities with populations of over 100,000.
So they made do with whatever they could get.
When TV surpassed radio, TV adopted the same guidelines. Surveys indicate that people like the prime time they were brought up with. Central time zones LOVE the 7pm start. While East and West coast like the later 8pm start.
Braves2005 said:
...nope. Welk's show started in 1955 at 9/8 Central, after "The Grand Ole Opry," "The Ozark Jubilee," movies, "Leave it to Beaver" and/or "The Dick Clark Saturday Night Beech-Nut Show*," among other items. In 1963, it moved up to 8:30/7:30 Central, between "Hootenany" and "The Jerry Lewis Show." It stayed there the 1964-65 season, between "The Outer Limits" and "The Hollywood Palace." By the end of the ABC run, the Welk show led out of ABC's weekend game show block ("Let's Make a Deal" and "The Newlywed Game") at 7:30/6:30 Central, and was followed by "The Most Deadly Game." It was never run at 7:30/6:30 Central by ABC...
*of course, it was on "The Dick Clark Saturday Night Beech-Nut Show" that Jerry Lee Lewis set fire to a piano while performing "Great Balls of Fire." Clark claims that piano was on loan to his production company from Welk himself ;-) ...
Ultimajock said:
As bpatrick noted in a post above ("6:30 Central") and which can be confirmed in
Brooks & Marsh, Welk aired on ABC from Jan.-Sep. 1971 Saturdays 7:30-8:30 ET.
from Ultima:
*of course, it was on "The Dick Clark Saturday Night Beech-Nut Show" that Jerry Lee Lewis set fire to a piano while performing "Great Balls of Fire." Clark claims that piano was on loan to his production company from Welk himself ;-) ...
I would have paid good $ to see the look on Welk's face.
*of course, it was on "The Dick Clark Saturday Night Beech-Nut Show" that Jerry Lee Lewis set fire to a piano while performing "Great Balls of Fire." Clark claims that piano was on loan to his production company from Welk himself ;-) ...
I would have paid good $ to see the look on Welk's face.
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