Daytime television in the United States

Daytime television is the general term for television shows produced for airing during the daytime hours on weekdays. The hours and days for daytime television in the United States usually run from 6:00am to 6:00pm EST/EDT, Monday through Friday; although it may vary depending on time zone/region, networks, and/or local stations. This article is only about American daytime television; for information about international daytime television, see Daytime television.

Types of daytime programming

There are several different genres or formats of daytime programming that are produced. Most of these shows can be produced on a low budget, as these shows have to be able to make at least five new episodes per week (sometimes more) for most of the year. Most daytime shows are syndicated, meaning local stations buy the rights to air them. Commercials aired during daytime programming mostly advertise household goods and feminine products geared toward housewives and stay-at-home moms, who of course make up the largest portion of the daytime viewing audience.

Court shows

There are currently many different court shows produced in United States daytime television. Most of these shows usually deal with one, sometimes two small-claims cases per episode. The cases are real; they are not scripted and the participants are not actors. All of the following court shows are syndicated.

Current American daytime court shows

Show Presiding Judge
Judge Mathis Greg Mathis
Divorce Court Lynn Toler
Judge Judy Judith Sheindlin
The People's Court Marilyn Milian
America's Court with Judge Ross Kevin A. Ross
We the People With Gloria Allred Gloria Allred
Supreme Justice with Judge Karen Karen Mills-Francis
Justice for All with Judge Cristina Pérez Cristina Pérez
Paternity Court Lauren Lake
Hot Bench Patricia DiMango, Tanya Acker and Larry Bakman

Daytime serials/soap operas

A staple of daytime television since the 1950s, serials continue to be among the most popular programs among daytime audiences. They are dramatic serials that tell ongoing stories of the day-to-day life of large casts of characters, each still having its own identity. The term "soap opera" is somewhat of a misnomer, dating to the early days of radio and television when purveyors of detergents and soaps such as Procter & Gamble, Colgate Palmolive and Lever Bros. generally sponsored, financed and produced these shows individually. Soap operas usually occupy the afternoon time slots in daytime programming.

Current American daytime serials

Retired American daytime serials

Game shows

Game shows, another long-time mainstay of daytime television, involve regular people playing a game, or a series of games, as contestants like the title suggests, with the ultimate goal of winning a prize (usually a large amount of money or an expensive luxury item, such as a car or a trip).

From the 1960s through the 1980s, all three of the major broadcast networks carried several game shows during their daytime lineups, usually occupying the mid/late-morning and late-afternoon time slots. ABC Daytime ended their block in 1985 (with occasional stand-alone game shows such as Bargain Hunters in 1987 and Match Game in 1990 airing in the years that followed) followed by NBC Daytime in 1991 (with a brief revival in 1993) and CBS Daytime in 1993. However, it will be 13 years later when then network My Network TV launched my games fever which ran two hours without commercial interruption to compete with CBS sole game show. Though the ratings was decent it wasn't enough to increase rating and after a few months it officially ended after 105 episodes and it has not air a single daytime programing on My Network TV ever since. CBS still carries two daytime game shows, the long-running The Price Is Right and a revival of Let's Make a Deal. CBS currently allows both daytime game shows can be arranged as a two-hour block by affiliates (10AM ET) if preferred instead of bookending the schedule (11 AM and 3 PM ET).

Of the current daytime game shows, The Price Is Right began as part of CBS's daytime game show block and is the only show to have aired continuously on daytime network television since the end of that era. Family Feud, Jeopardy! and Wheel of Fortune (the latter two of which usually airs during the pre-prime time hour, but are also occasionally scheduled in the daytime, especially in the Central Time Zone and in markets where Jeopardy! airs two episodes a day) have all transitioned from network daytime shows to syndication, while Millionaire is a daytime spinoff of a network prime time program. Both current CBS Daytime game shows began as 30-minute game shows that transitioned into one-hour formats (Price in 1975 and Deal in 2009).

Current daytime game shows

Network television

Syndicated

Classic reruns of retired game shows from the 1970s and 1980s (such as Password, Pyramid, Match Game, etc.) are currently airing on Game Show Network in its daytime slot, and all day by the digital multicast network Buzzr. In addition to the new network Buzzr has launched daytime buzz featuring classing game shows.

Newsmagazine

Half-hour newsmagazines generally focus on sensationalist tabloid-style news and entertainment coverage; formerly the tone was light in nature, but market forces and ratings concerns eventually forced programs into a tabloid format. These programs usually air during the late-afternoon or pre-prime time hours.

Current newsmagazines

Retired newsmagazine shows include PM Magazine (from the 1980s); and Hard Copy and A Current Affair (both from the 1990s). A Current Affair returns to prime time in the mid 2000s which was later cancelled due to low ratings.

News programs

During the week, daytime television is generally devoid of or lacking news programming. However, on Sundays, most networks devote at least part of their schedule to serious news programming, as the viewers who would normally be at work during the daytime on weekdays are generally at home on Sundays.

Current news and public affairs programs

Talk shows

In the early years NBC and ABC added daytime talk shows during late mornings and afternoon hours. In the years that followed with daytime soap operas fill the daytime slots, talk shows become limited and some of which has since moved into syndication during the 1970s. In recent years CBS adds talk shows for the first time as a replacement from cancelled soap operas notably As The World Turns. This makes ABC the only network to air 2 talk shows having air continuously since the 1950s. Talk shows typically last one hour, and are more often than not hosted by celebrities. Talk shows deal with a variety of topics, like educational or self-help related subjects; to variety shows featuring interviews, comedic monologues, and stage performances; to tabloid talk shows. Talk shows usually occupy the morning and late-afternoon hours. Syndicated talk shows on the other hand have made a comeback in recent years to 12 talk shows, however it might will decrease to 11 if any new talk shows will be added.

Current American daytime talk shows

Network television

Syndicated

Retired talk shows include The Mike Douglas Show (from the 1970s), the Phil Donahue Show (from the 1970s and 1980s); Hour Magazine, The Morton Downey, Jr. Show, and Geraldo (from the 1980s); and Ricki Lake and the Montel Williams Show (from the 1990s).

Off-network syndicated programming

Syndication is the practice of selling rights to the presentation of television programs, especially to more than one customer such as a television station, a cable channel, or a programming service such as a national broadcasting system. The syndication of television programs is a fundamental financial component of television industries. Long a crucial factor in the economics of the U.S. industry, syndication is now a worldwide activity involving the sales of programming produced in many countries. While most of the series currently in syndication are either still in production or have only recently ended their runs, the most popular series can command syndication runs lasting decades beyond the end of their production (the most extreme example being I Love Lucy, which remains in syndication as of 2012 despite having ended its run in 1957; other examples of series still popular in syndication after over a decade out of production include Seinfeld, Cheers, The Rocky and Bullwinkle Show and M*A*S*H).

Networks have also been known to rerun scripted programming in daytime, though much less so with the proliferation of syndication, cable television and direct broadcast satellites in the 1980s and 1990s. The last time a network is known to have done this is when CBS aired reruns of Designing Women from 1991-1992. However, it wasn't until 14 years later in 2006 When Daytime WB aired reruns of Reba (TV series) along with previous shows such as "ER" (TV series) since 2009 no major TV networks has aired any reruns on the daytime slot.

Note that the series listed below are not necessarily restricted to daytime and can air in any open time slot.

Off-network series currently in syndication

See also

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