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Daytime television in the United States

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Daytime television is the general term for television shows produced that are intended to air during the daytime hours on weekdays. This article is about American daytime television, for information about international daytime television see Daytime television.

Types of Daytime Programming

There are several different sorts 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 individual stations buy the rights to show it.

Court Shows

First popularized in the 1980s with The People's Court, there are currently many different court shows produced. These shows deal with one, and sometimes two, small-claims cases per show. All of the following court shows air SYNDICATED.

American Daytime Court Shows

Show Presiding Judge
Judge Alex Alex Ferrer
Divorce Court Lynn Toler
Judge Joe Brown Joe Brown
Judge Judy Judith Sheindlin
Judge Karen's Court Karen Mills-Francis
Judge Mathis Greg Mathis
The People's Court Marilyn Milian
America's Court with Judge Ross Kevin A. Ross
Swift Justice with Jackie Glass Jackie Glass

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 the 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 the shows individually. The last true soap operas, Guiding Light and As the World Turns, ended their runs in 2009 and 2010 respectively.

American Daytime Serials

Game Shows

Involves regular people being contestants and playing a game, like the title suggests, with the ultimate goal being able to take first place, so as to win a prize (usually money).

From the 1960s through the 1980s, all three of the major broadcast networks carried several game shows during their daytime lineups. ABC Daytime ended their block in 1985, followed by NBC Daytime in 1991 (with a brief revival in 1993) and CBS Daytime in 1993. CBS still carries two daytime game shows, the long-running The Price Is Right and a revival of Let's Make a Deal.

Of the network game shows, only The Price Is Right remains in its original network form. Family Feud, Jeopardy! and Wheel of Fortune have all transitioned from network daytime shows to syndication (the latter two, while most affiliates air them in the prime time access slot, occasionally air in daytime, particularly in the Central Time Zone where only a half hour of prime access is available), while Millionaire is a daytime spinoff of a network prime time program.

Magazine Shows

These 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.

News Shows

Main article: Sunday morning talk shows

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.

Talk Shows

Talk shows typically last one hour, and are more often than not hosted by celebrities. Talk shows deal with a variety of topics, like self-help related subjects, to variety shows featuring interviews and comedic monologues, to lowbrow "trash TV".

American Daytime Talk Shows

Syndication: Drama and Comedy Series Off-network

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.

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 NBC aired The Golden Girls reruns in 1989.

American Widely Syndicated Series

See also

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