Why Is Prime Time The Way It Is?
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The idea for this week's blog comes from the son of one of our CBS 11 Assignment Editors with the question: why is prime time the way it is on TV?
The beginnings of prime time go back to the days of network radio. Essentially, it refers to that time of day that has the highest available audience for viewing. For East & West coast audiences, prime time is 8-11pm; for Central and Mountain, it is 7-10pm. When the radio networks started with their evening programs, executives took into consideration the different lifestyles of each time zone, being that they were broadcasting to a national audience. East and West Coast lifestyles are different that those in the Central & Mountain regions due to the concentration of more heavily populated areas, transportation options and concerns, work schedules, type of industries by geography, and even weather. Prime time also refers not only to a block of time with the highest available number of viewers, it is also where the networks can charge the most money for advertising. The more viewers watching, the higher the rates.
For a number of years, the TV networks started the prime time schedule at 7:30pm ET/6:30pm CT, Monday-Saturday, and then 7pm ET/6pm CT on Sundays. In the fall of 1971, a new FCC regulation took place that required the networks to limit their prime time programming to only three hours a night (with the exception of Sundays). Called the Prime Time Access Rule, the FCC had intended for local network affiliate stations to use this time given back to them to air local programming that served their communities. However, by 1995, that rule was repealed and taken off the books. Today, the networks can start at times other than 8pm ET/7pm, typically done for sports programming (NFL Thursday Night Football On CBS) or for election coverage, for example.
Today, TV viewing platforms and habits are vastly different than from its commercial beginnings in the 1940's. Technology now allows people to see what they want when they want it. That alone presents opportunities as well as challenges to properly measure how many people are watching and who's watching. Technology definitely moves quicker than legalities when it comes to wanting to see what you want when you want it, as they create another set of exhibition rights that have to be complied with and fulfilled. It is sure exciting to see these new technologies emerging. But at the end of the day, the road starts on the screen: your TV set!
See you next time!
