This article is about television in the United States, specifically its history, art, business and government regulation. Information about television technologies is covered in the main television article and elsewhere. “TV” redirects here. ...

Television is an important part of American media and culture. In an expansive country of more than 300 million people, television programs are some of the few things that nearly all Americans can share nationally. Ninety-nine percent of American households have at least one television and the majority of households have more than one.

Television channels and networks

There are three basic types of television in the United States: broadcast, or "over-the-air" television, which is freely available to anyone with a TV in the broadcast area, cable television, and satellite television, both of which require a subscription to receive. Terrestrial television (also known as over-the-air, OTA or broadcast television) was the traditional method of television broadcast signal delivery prior to the advent of cable and satellite television. ... Coaxial cable is often used to transmit cable television into the house. ... Satellite television is television delivered by way of communications satellites, as compared to conventional terrestrial television and cable television. ...

Broadcast television

The United States has a decentralized, market-oriented television system. Unlike many other countries, the United States has no national broadcast stations. Instead, local media markets have their own television stations, which may be affiliated to a TV network. Stations may sign affiliation agreements with one of the national networks. Except in very small markets with few stations, affiliation agreements are usually exclusive: If a station is an NBC affiliate, the station would not air programs from ABC, CBS or other networks. A television network is a distribution network for television content whereby a central operation provides programming for many television stations. ...

However, to ensure local presences in television broadcasting, federal law restricts the amount of network programming local stations can run. Until the 1970s and '80s, local stations supplemented network programming with a good deal of their own produced shows. Today, however, many stations produce only local news shows. They fill the rest of their schedule with syndicated shows, or material produced independently and sold to individual stations in each local market. In the television industry (as in radio), syndication is the sale of the right to broadcast programs to multiple stations, without going through a broadcast network. ...

The three major networks

The three major commercial television networks in the U.S. include NBC and CBS, which date to the early days of television (in fact, they both began in the 1920s as radio networks), and ABC, founded (in its modern form) in 1953. In big cities, affiliates of these networks almost always broadcast in the VHF band, which, in the days before cable became widespread, was premium real estate. The National Broadcasting Company (NBC) is an American television network headquartered in the GE Building in New York Citys Rockefeller Center. ... This article is about the broadcast network. ... The American Broadcasting Company (ABC) operates television and radio networks in the United States and is also shown on basic cable in Canada. ... Very high frequency (VHF) is the radio frequency range from 30 MHz to 300 MHz. ...

Major-network affiliates run very similar schedules. Typically, they begin weekdays with an early-morning locally produced news show, followed by a network morning show, such as NBC's Today, which mixes news, weather, interviews and music. Syndicated programming, especially talk shows, fill the late morning, followed often by local news at noon (Eastern Time). Soap operas dominate the early afternoon, while syndicated talk shows such as The Oprah Winfrey Show appear in the late afternoon. Local news comes on again in the early evening, followed by the national network's news program at 5:30 or 6:30 p.m., followed by more news. Today, commonly referred to as The Today Show to avoid ambiguity, is an American morning news and talk show airing weekday mornings on the NBC television network. ... The Eastern Standard Time Zone (abbreviated EST) is a geographic region that keeps time by subtracting five hours from Coordinated Universal Time (UTC). ... The first TIME cover devoted to soap operas: Dated January 12, 1976, Bill Hayes and Susan Seaforth Hayes of Days of our Lives are featured with the headline Soap Operas: Sex and suffering in the afternoon. A soap opera is an ongoing, episodic work of fiction, usually broadcast on television... The Oprah Winfrey Show (also known as Oprah) is an American nationally syndicated talk show, hosted and produced by Oprah Winfrey and is the highest-rated talk show in American television history. ...

More syndication occupies the next hour (or ½ hour in the Central time zone, called prime access slot) before the networks take over for prime time, the most-watched three hours of television. Typically, family-oriented comedy programs led in the early part of prime time, although in recent years, reality television like Dancing with the Stars has largely replaced them. Later in the evening, dramas like CSI: Crime Scene Investigation and Grey's Anatomy air. Prime time is the block of programming on television during the middle of the evening. ... The word comedy has a classical meaning (comical theatre) and a popular one (the use of humor with an intent to provoke laughter in general). ... Reality television is a genre of television programming which presents purportedly unscripted dramatic or humorous situations, documents actual events, and features ordinary people instead of professional actors. ... Dancing with the Stars is a reality show airing on ABC in the United States. ... This does not cite any references or sources. ... CSI: Crime Scene Investigation is a popular Alliance Atlantis/CBS police procedural television series, running since October 2000, about a team of forensic scientists. ... This article is about the television series. ...

At 10 or 11 p.m., another local news program comes on, usually followed by late-night interview shows, such as Late Show with David Letterman. Rather than sign off for the wee hours of the night (as was standard practice until the 1980s or so), TV stations now fill the time with syndicated programming or 30-minute advertisements, known as infomercials. Ŝ “Late Show” redirects here. ... This article does not cite any references or sources. ...

Saturday mornings usually feature network programming aimed at children (including animated cartoons), while Sunday mornings include public-affairs programs that help fulfill stations' legal obligations to provide public-service programming. Sports and infomercials can be found on weekend afternoons, followed again by the same type of prime-time shows aired during the week. Cartoons started in the 1930s and 40s. ... The Sunday-morning interview shows in the United States are influential television talk programs which often feature national leaders as guests for interviews and debates. ...

Other over-the-air commercial television

Until 1987, all English-language stations not affiliated with the big three networks were independent, airing only locally produced and syndicated programming. Many independent stations still exist in the U.S., usually broadcasting on the UHF band. Syndicated shows, often reruns of old TV series and old movies, take up much of their schedule. Ultra high frequency (UHF) designates a range (band) of electromagnetic waves whose frequency is between 300 MHz and 3. ... Rerun van Pelt is the name of Linus and Lucys younger brother in the comic strip Peanuts. ...

In 1986, however, the Fox Broadcasting Company launched a challenge to the big three networks. Thanks largely to the success of shows like The Simpsons and American Idol, as well as the network's acquisition of rights to show National Football League games, Fox has established itself as a major player in broadcast television. However, Fox differs from the three older networks in that it does not air a nightly news program, its prime-time schedule is only two hours long, and some of its big-city affiliates still broadcast on UHF. Its only scheduled news program is FOX News Sunday, on Sunday mornings; FOX prefers to use the cable FOX News Channel for its news programmimg, giving affiliates more time to carry local news (most FOX affiliates now have local newscasts). The Fox Broadcasting Company, usually referred to as just Fox (the company itself prefers the capitalized version FOX), is a television network in the United States. ... Simpsons redirects here. ... AMERICAN IDOL HAS BEEN CANCELLED DUE TO DEATH OF SIMON ... NFL redirects here. ... FOX News Sunday is public affairs magazine on Fox, airing on Sunday mornings. ... “Fox News” redirects here. ...

In the 1990s, three new networks -- The WB, UPN and PAX -- joined the scene. The fledging WB and UPN merged into The CW in fall 2006, while News Corp's MyNetworkTV, created to replace UPN programming on FOX's O&Os, debuted in fall 2006 as well. PAX, now known as "ION Television," has had very low ratings since its launch and is no longer considered a competitor to the larger over-the-air networks. The WB Television Network is a television network in the United States, founded as a joint venture between the Warner Bros. ... UPN (which originally stood for the United Paramount Network) was a television network in over 200 markets in the United States. ... ION Television is a broadcast and cable television network first broadcast on August 31, 1998 under the name PAX TV (early on in its development, it was called PaxNet). ... “The CW” redirects here. ... News Corporation (NYSE: NWS) is a media conglomerate that operates world-wide. ... MyNetworkTV (sometimes written My Network TV, and unofficially abbreviated MyNet, MyTV, MNT, or MNTV) is a television network in the United States, owned by News Corporation. ... In the broadcasting industry (especially in North America), an owned-and-operated station (frequently abbreviated as O&O) usually refers to a television station or radio station that is owned by the network with which it is associated. ... ION Television is a broadcast and cable television network first broadcast on August 31, 1998 under the name PAX TV (early on in its development, it was called PaxNet). ...

ION broadcasts 24 hours a day, 7 days a week, making the ION network totally responsible for its affiliates. MyNetworkTV broadcasts 12 hours a week, Monday through Saturday. The CW broadcasts 15 hours a week in prime time, 10 hours in daytime. MyNetworkTV (sometimes written My Network TV, and unofficially abbreviated MyNet, MyTV, MNT, or MNTV) is a television network in the United States, owned by News Corporation. ... The Crimson White, known colloquially as The CW, is the student-run newspaper of the University of Alabama. ...

Broadcast television in languages other than English

Univision, a network of Spanish language stations, is the fifth-largest TV network behind NBC, CBS, ABC and Fox. Its major competition is Telemundo, a sister network of NBC. Univision-owned TeleFutura, aimed at a younger Hispanic demographic, and Azteca America, the American version of Mexico's TV Azteca, are two other popular Spanish-language over-the-air networks. Univision is a Spanish-language television network in the United States. ... This article is about the international language known as Spanish. ... Telemundo is an American television network based in Hialeah, Florida. ... TeleFutura is a U.S. Spanish-language broadcast television network owned by Univision with headquarters in Miami, Florida. ... TV Azteca is a Mexican television network. ... TV Azteca is the second largest Mexican television network. ... Terrestrial television (also known as over-the-air or OTA) is the traditional method of television broadcast signal delivery, by radio waves transmitted through open space. ...

In addition, the Miami-based Haitian Television Network offers locally produced Haitian Creole and French language programming in Miami and parts of New Jersey, New York City, and Boston. Haitian Creole (Kreyòl ayisyen) is a creole language based on the French language. ... French (français, langue française) is one of the most important Romance languages, outnumbered in speakers only by Spanish and Portuguese. ...

Non-commercial television

Public television has a far smaller role than in most other countries. There is no state-owned broadcasting authority. Instead, the federal government subsidizes non-commercial television stations through the Corporation for Public Broadcasting. The income received from the government is insufficient to cover expenses and stations rely on corporate sponsorships and viewer contributions. Public broadcasting (also known as public service broadcasting or PSB) is the dominant form of broadcasting around the world, where radio, television, and potentially other electronic media outlets receive funding from the public. ... The Corporation for Public Broadcasting logo, used from 1969 to 2002. ...

American public television stations air programming that commercial stations do not offer, such as educational, including cultural, and public affairs programming. Most public TV stations are affiliates of the Public Broadcasting Service, sharing programs like Sesame Street and Masterpiece Theatre. Unlike the commercial networks, PBS does not produce its own programming; instead, individual PBS stations create programming and provide these to other affiliates. New York City's municipally-owned broadcast service, NYCTV, creates original programming that airs in several markets. Few cities have major municipally-owned stations. “PBS” redirects here. ... Sesame Street is an American educational childrens television series for preschoolers and is a pioneer of the contemporary educational television standard, combining both education and entertainment. ... Masterpiece Theatre is a long-running anthology television series produced by WGBH which premiered on PBS on January 10, 1971. ... New York, New York and NYC redirect here. ... nyctv is the publicly-owned broadcast service of New York City run by the NYC Media Group. ...

Many religious broadcasting stations exist, also surviving on viewer contributions.

Cable and satellite television

Until the 1970s, cable television was used only to rebroadcast over-the-air TV to areas that had trouble receiving signals. But in that decade, national networks dedicated exclusively to cable broadcasting appeared, along with cable-TV systems that provided service to major cities. Today, most American households receive cable TV, and cable networks collectively have greater viewership than broadcast networks.

Unlike broadcast networks, most cable networks air the same programming nationwide. Top cable networks include ESPN (sports), MTV (music), CNN (news), Sci Fi (science fiction) and Discovery Channel (documentaries). ESPN/ESPN-DT, formerly an acronym for Entertainment and Sports Programming Network, is an [[United States|Amer<nowiki>Insert non-formatted text here--68. ... This article is about the original U.S. music television channel. ... The Cable News Network, commonly known as CNN, is a major cable television network founded in 1980 by Ted Turner. ... SCI FI (originally Sci-Fi Channel, sometimes rendered SCI FI Channel when part of a longer phrase) is an American cable television channel, launched on September 24, 1992, specializing in science fiction, fantasy, horror, and paranormal programming. ... Discovery Channel is a cable and satellite TV channel founded by John Hendricks which is distributed by Discovery Communications. ...

Cable-TV subscribers receive these channels through local cable system operators, who receive the programming from the networks and transmit them into homes. Usually, local governments award a monopoly to a system operator to provide cable-TV service in a given area. By law, cable systems must include local over-the-air stations in their offerings to customers.

Today Direct broadcast satellite television services, which became available in the U.S. in the 1990s, offers programming similar to cable TV. Dish Network and News Corporation's DirecTV are the major DBS providers in the country. Satellites were originally launched and used by the Television networks as a method of distributing their programs from headquarters to local affiliates. In the 1970s individuals in remote locations, without access to Terrestrial television broadcasts, found they could get free television by installing large satellite dishes and aiming them at the various satellites owned by the networks. This had the additional benefit of providing channels that others could not receive. This included programs without commercials, live feeds not intended for broadcast, broadcasts from other countries and eventually cable television programming. To prevent people from receiving pay content for free, satellite transmissions are now scrambled. Newer transmission technology enabled satellite dishes to be much smaller and subscription services were developed. Direct broadcast satellite (DBS) is a term used to refer to satellite television broadcasts intended for home reception, also referred to as direct-to-home signals. ... DISH Network is a direct broadcast satellite (DBS) service that provides satellite television and audio programming to households and businesses in the United States, owned by parent company EchoStar Communications Corporation. ... 1211 Avenue of the Americas (Sixth Avenue), where News Corporation is based News Corporation (abbreviated to News Corp) (NYSE: NWS, NYSE: NWSa, ASX: NWS, LSE: NCRA) is one of the worlds largest Media conglomerates. ... A standard DirecTV satellite dish with 1 LNB on a roof DirecTV (trademarked as DIRECTV) is a direct broadcast satellite (DBS) service based in El Segundo, California, USA, that transmits digital satellite television and audio to households in the United States, the Caribbean and Latin America except for Mexico. ... A television network is a distribution network for television content whereby a central operation provides programming for many television stations. ... Terrestrial television (also known as over-the-air, OTA or broadcast television) was the traditional method of television broadcast signal delivery prior to the advent of cable and satellite television. ... Sky Digital mini-dish Astros mini-dish. Special dish for up to 16 satellite positions (Ku-band) Satellite dish antenna for C-Band Satellite Dishes installed on an apartment complex A satellite dish is a type of parabolic antenna designed with the specific purpose of transmitting signals to and...

The business of television

Over-the-air commercial stations and networks generate the vast majority of their revenue from advertisements. According to a 2001 survey, broadcast stations allocated 16 to 21 minutes per hour to commercials. Most cable networks also generate income from advertisements, although most basic cable networks also receive subscription fees. However, premium cable networks, such as the movie network HBO, do not air commercials. Instead, cable-TV subscribers must pay extra to receive the premium networks. Cable-TV system operators get revenue from subscription fees and by selling local advertisements. “Advert” redirects here. ... Basic Cable is the sketch comedy show on Boston College Campus. ... For other uses, see HBO (disambiguation). ...

Programming

Lucille Ball and Desi Arnaz of I Love Lucy.

American television has had very successful programming that has inspired television networks across the world to make shows of similar types or broadcast these shows in their own country. Some of these shows are still on the air and some are still alive and well in syndication. The opposite is also true; a number of popular American programs were based on shows from other countries, especially the United Kingdom and Canada. Lucy and Ricky Ricardo This is a screenshot of a copyrighted movie or television program. ... Lucy and Ricky Ricardo This is a screenshot of a copyrighted movie or television program. ... Lucille Désirée Ball (August 6, 1911 – April 26, 1989) was an iconic American actor, comedian and star of the landmark sitcom I Love Lucy, a four time Emmy Award winner (awarded 1953, 1956, 1967, 1968) and charter member of the Television Hall of Fame. ... Desi Arnaz (born Desiderio Alberto Arnaz y de Acha III) (March 2, 1917 – December 2, 1986) was a Cuban musician, actor, comedian and television producer. ... I Love Lucy is a television situation comedy starring Lucille Ball and Desi Arnaz, and featuring Vivian Vance and William Frawley. ...

Primetime comedy has included situation comedies such as I Love Lucy, M*A*S*H, All in the Family, The Jeffersons, The Cosby Show, Seinfeld, Friends and Everybody Loves Raymond, as well as sketch comedy/variety series such as Milton Berle's early shows, The Carol Burnett Show, Rowan and Martin's Laugh-In and the late-night Saturday Night Live. This article is about a genre of comedy. ... I Love Lucy is a television situation comedy starring Lucille Ball and Desi Arnaz, and featuring Vivian Vance and William Frawley. ... M*A*S*H is an American television series developed by Larry Gelbart, inspired by the 1968 novel M*A*S*H: A Novel About Three Army Doctors by Richard Hooker (penname for H. Richard Hornberger) and its sequels, but primarily by the 1970 film MASH, and influenced by the... For other uses, see All in the Family (disambiguation). ... This article does not cite any references or sources. ... The Cosby Show is an American television sitcom starring Bill Cosby, first broadcast on September 20, 1984 and ran for eight seasons on the NBC television network, until April 30, 1992. ... This article is about the sitcom. ... For the use of the word in a general sense, see Friendship. ... Everybody Loves Raymond is an American sitcom originally broadcast on CBS from 1996 to 2005. ... Milton Berle (July 12, 1908 - March 27, 2002) was an American comedian who was born Milton Berlinger according to his birth certificate. ... The original cast in 1967. ... Rowan & Martins Laugh-In was a United States comedy television show broadcast from January 22, 1968 through 1973 over the NBC network. ... This article is about the American television series. ...

Dramatic series have taken many forms over the years. Westerns such as Gunsmoke had their greatest popularity in the '50s and '60s. Medical dramas have endured (Marcus Welby, M.D., St. Elsewhere, ER), as have family dramas (Eight is Enough, The Waltons, Little House on the Prairie) and crime dramas (Dragnet, Hawaii Five-O, Hill Street Blues, Law & Order and CSI: Crime Scene Investigation - the last two of which have spawned multiple spin-offs). Some series, such as HBO's The Sopranos, successfully bend the traditional drama categories. The cast of radios Gunsmoke: Howard McNear (Doc), William Conrad (Matt), Georgia Ellis (Kitty) and Parley Baer (Chester) Gunsmoke is an American radio and television Western drama series created by director Norman MacDonnell and writer John Meston. ... Marcus Welby, M.D. was a popular medical drama that aired on ABC from late September 1969 to May 1976. ... St. ... This article is about the drama series. ... Eight Is Enough was an American television comedy-drama series which ran on ABC from March 15, 1977 until August 29, 1981. ... For other uses, see The Waltons (disambiguation). ... Little House On The Prairie was an American one-hour dramatic television program that aired on the NBC network from September 11, 1974 to March 21, 1983. ... Dragnet opening frame from the 1967 version. ... Hawaii Five-O is an American television series that starred Jack Lord and James MacArthur as detectives for a fictional Hawaii state police department. ... Hill Street Blues was a serial police drama that was first aired on NBC in 1981 and ran for 146 episodes on primetime into 1987. ... Law & Order is a long-running American television police procedural and legal drama set in New York City. ... CSI: Crime Scene Investigation is a popular Alliance Atlantis/CBS police procedural television series, running since October 2000, about a team of forensic scientists. ... A spin-off (or spinoff) is a new organization or entity formed by a split from a larger one such as a new company formed from a university research group. ... The Sopranos is an American television drama series created by David Chase and originally broadcast on the HBO network. ...

The major networks all offer a morning news program (NBC's The Today Show and ABC's Good Morning America are the standard bearers), as well as an early-evening newscast anchored by the de facto face of the network's news operations (Walter Cronkite and Dan Rather for CBS; NBC's Chet Huntley, David Brinkley and Tom Brokaw; ABC's Peter Jennings). Successful news magazines have included 60 Minutes, 20/20, and Dateline in primetime and Meet the Press (the US's oldest series, having debuted in 1947), Face the Nation and This Week on Sunday mornings. Today, commonly referred to as The Today Show to avoid ambiguity, is an American morning news and talk show airing weekday mornings on the NBC television network. ... Good Morning America is a weekday morning news show that is broadcast on the ABC television network. ... Walter Leland Cronkite, Jr. ... Daniel Irvin Rather, Jr. ... Chester Robert Huntley (December 10, 1911 - March 20, 1974), more popularly known as Chet Huntley, was an American television newscaster. ... David Brinkley David McClure Brinkley (July 10, 1920 – June 11, 2003) was a popular American television newscaster for two different USA television networks, NBC, and later, ABC. From 1956 through 1970 he co-anchored NBCs top rated nightly news program, The Huntley–Brinkley Report with Chet Huntley. ... Thomas John Brokaw (born February 6, 1940 in Webster, South Dakota) is a popular American television journalist, Previously working on regularly scheduled news documentaries for the NBC television network, and is the former NBC News anchorman and managing editor of the program NBC Nightly News with Tom Brokaw. ... Peter Charles Archibald Ewart Jennings, CM (July 29, 1938 – August 7, 2005) was a Canadian-American journalist and news anchor. ... This article is about the CBS news magazine. ... This article is about the television show. ... A dateline is a short piece of text included in news articles that describes where and when the story was filed, though the date is often omitted. ... Meet the Press (MTP) is a weekly television news show produced by NBC. It started as a radio show in 1945 as American Mercury Presents: Meet the Press, originating from WRC-AM in Washington. ... Face The Nation logo, used until 2002. ... This Week is one of the five network U.S. Sunday morning political talk shows. ...

Reality television has long existed in the United States, both played for laughs (Candid Camera, Real People) and as drama (COPS, The Real World). A new variant - competition series - exploded in popularity in 2000 with the launch of Survivor. Big Brother, The Amazing Race, America's Next Top Model, and American Idol followed. Reality television is a genre of television programming which presents purportedly unscripted dramatic or humorous situations, documents actual events, and features ordinary people instead of professional actors. ... Candid Camera is a long-running television series, created and produced by Allen Funt, which initially began on radio as Candid Microphone June 28, 1947. ... Real People was an NBC reality television series that aired from 1979 to 1984, generally on Sunday nights. ... Not to be confused with C.O.P.S. (TV series). ... For other uses, see The Real World (disambiguation). ... This article is about the television show. ... The American version of Big Brother has aired on CBS every summer since 2000. ... This article is about the reality show format in general. ... “ANTM” redirects here. ... AMERICAN IDOL HAS BEEN CANCELLED DUE TO DEATH OF SIMON ...

American soap operas have been running for over six decades. Of the nine current daytime soaps, seven have been on the air for over thirty years: The Guiding Light, As the World Turns, General Hospital, Days of Our Lives, One Life to Live, All My Children, and The Young and the Restless. Primetime soap operas of note have included Peyton Place, Dallas, Dynasty, and Beverly Hills, 90210. The first TIME cover devoted to soap operas: Dated January 12, 1976, Bill Hayes and Susan Seaforth Hayes of Days of Our Lives are featured with the headline Soap Operas: Sex and suffering in the afternoon. A soap opera is an ongoing, episodic work of fiction, usually broadcast on television... This Guiding Light logo, which debuted in 1982, was used, save for background changes, until 1990. ... As the World Turns (ATWT) is the second longest-running American television soap opera (the first being Guiding Light),[1] airing each weekday on CBS. Set in the fictional town of Oakdale, Illinois, the show debuted on Monday, April 2, 1956[2] at 1:30pm. ... General Hospital is the longest-running daytime soap opera on the American ABC television network, and is also the longest-running soap opera produced in Hollywood (having been taped at the Prospect Avenue ABC Television Center West since its inception). ... Days of our Lives is an American soap opera, which has aired nearly every weekday since November 8, 1965[2] on the NBC network in the United States, and has since been syndicated to many countries around the world. ... One Life to Live (OLTL) is an American soap opera which has been broadcast on the ABC television network since July 15, 1968. ... All My Children (AMC) is a popular American soap opera that has been broadcast Monday through Friday on the ABC TV network since January 5, 1970. ... For other uses, see Young and Restless. ... The opening title of Peyton Place during the color years. ... The Southfork Ranch, home of the Ewing family The original cast of Dallas. ... Dynasty was an American primetime television soap opera that aired on ABC from January 12, 1981 to May 10, 1989. ... Beverly Hills, 90210 is a primetime television soap opera that aired from October 4, 1990, to May 17, 2000, on FOX in the United States and subsequently on various networks around the world. ...

Daytime has also been home of many popular game shows over the years (particularly during the 1970s), such as The Price is Right, Family Feud, Match Game, The Newlywed Game and Concentration. Wheel of Fortune and Jeopardy! have found their greatest success in the early-evening slot before primetime, while game shows actually aired within primetime had great popularity in the 1950s and 1960s (What's My Line?, I've Got a Secret, To Tell the Truth) and again, intermittently, in the 2000s (Who Wants to Be a Millionaire, The Weakest Link, Deal or No Deal). The Price Is Right, which has appeared on CBS since 1972, is the only daytime game show remaining on the broadcast networks. A game show is a radio or television program involving members of the public or celebrities, sometimes as part of a team, playing a game, perhaps involving answering quiz questions, for points or prizes. ... The 1970s decade refers to the years from 1970 to 1979, also called The Seventies. ... The Price Is Rights US 35th season logo. ... This article is about the American game show. ... The Match Game was an American television game show, most often hosted by Gene Rayburn. ... This article or section does not adequately cite its references or sources. ... Concentration was a TV game show based on the childrens memory game of the same name. ... This article is about the current, syndicated nighttime edition of the U.S. game show, which began in 1983. ... “Jeopardy” redirects here. ... PrimeTime is a television newsmagazine from ABC News. ... Whats My Line? was a weekly panel game show originally produced by Mark Goodson and Bill Todman for CBS television. ... Ive Got a Secret (abbreviated as IGAS) was a weekly panel game show produced by Mark Goodson and Bill Todman for CBS television and was created by Allan Sherman as essentially a knockoff of Whats My Line?. The original version of the show premiered in June 19, 1952... Nipsey Russell, Peggy Cass, Bill Cullen and Kitty Carlisle from the 1969-78 version. ... In the United States, Who Wants to Be a Millionaire (also known simply as Millionaire) is a television game show which offers a maximum prize of $1,000,000 (originally lump sum; now annuitized) for correctly answering 15 successive multiple-choice questions of increasing difficulty. ... The Weakest Link (known as Weakest Link in many countries) is a television game show which first appeared in the United Kingdom on BBC Two on 14 August 2000. ... Deal or No Deal is the name of several closely related television game shows, the first of which (launching the format) was produced by Dutch producer Endemol. ...

The most successful talk show has been the late-night (after 11:30 PM Eastern/Pacific) Tonight Show (particularly when hosted by Johnny Carson). Tonight ushered in a multi-decade period of dominance by one network in American late-night programming and paved the way for many similar combinations of comedy and celebrity interviews, such as those hosted by Merv Griffin and David Letterman. A talk show (U.S.) or chat show (Brit. ... To meet Wikipedias quality standards, this article or section may require cleanup. ... This article or section does not cite its references or sources. ... This article does not cite any references or sources. ... Mervyn Edward Merv Griffin, Jr. ... David Michael Letterman (born April 12, 1947, in Indianapolis, Indiana, USA) is an award-winning American comedian, late night talk show host, television producer, philanthropist, and IRL IndyCar Series car owner. ...

Daytime talk show hits have included The Oprah Winfrey Show, Phil Donahue, The Ellen DeGeneres Show, and Live with Regis and Kelly, and run the gamut from serious to lighthearted; a subset of so-called trash TV talk shows such as The Jerry Springer Show also veered into exploitation and titillation. The Oprah Winfrey Show (also known as Oprah) is an American nationally syndicated talk show, hosted and produced by Oprah Winfrey and is the highest-rated talk show in American television history. ... Phil Donahue Phillip John Donahue (b. ... For the television sitcom, see Ellen (TV series) and The Ellen Show. ... Live with Regis and Kelly is a syndicated American television talk show, hosted by Regis Philbin and Kelly Ripa. ... A WNYW-TV full screen segment intro from 2005. ... The Jerry Springer Show is an internationally known American television tabloid talk show, hosted by Jerry Springer, a former politician. ...

The life cycle of U.S. television shows

Television production companies either commission teleplays for TV pilots or buy specs. Some of these scripts are turned into pilots. Those which the production company thinks might be commercially viable are then marketed to television networks—or television distributors for first-run syndication. (KingWorld distributes Oprah in first-run syndication, for example, because that show is syndicated—is not affiliated with a particular network.) Production company refers to a company responsible for the development and physical production of performing arts, film, radio or a television program. ... A screenplay or script is a blueprint for producing a motion picture. ... A television pilot is the first episode of an intended television series. ... In the television industry (as in radio), syndication is the sale of the right to broadcast programs to multiple stations, without going through a broadcast network. ... King World Productions (aka King World Entertainment or simply King World) is the leading syndicator of U.S. television programming. ... The Oprah Winfrey Show is the longest-running daytime television talk show in the United States, and is hosted, produced and owned by Oprah Winfrey. ... In the television industry (as in radio), syndication is the sale of the right to broadcast television programs to multiple television stations, without going through a broadcast network. ...

Networks sometimes preemptively purchase pilots to prevent other nets from controlling them, and the purchase of a pilot is no guarantee that a show will get an order for more episodes. Those that do get "picked up" get either a full or partial-season order, and the show goes into production, usually establishing itself with permanent sets, a full crew and production offices. Writers are hired, directors are selected and work begins, usually during the late spring and summer before the fall season-series premieres. (Shows can also be mid-season replacements, meaning they are ordered specifically to fill holes in a network schedule created by the failure and cancellation of shows which premiered in the fall. Buffy the Vampire Slayer is an example of a successful mid-season replacement.) For other uses, see Buffy the Vampire Slayer (disambiguation). ...

The standard broadcast television season in the United States is 22 episodes per season; sitcoms may have 24 or more; animated programs may have more (or fewer) episodes; cable networks with original programming seem to have settled on about 10 or 12 episodes per season, much in line with British television programming.

American soap operas air in the afternoon, five days a week, without any significant break in taping and airing schedules throughout the year. This means that these serials air approximately 260 episodes a year, making their casts and crews the busiest in show business. These shows are rarely, if ever, repeated, making it difficult for viewers to "catch up" when they miss a month, or even a week, of programming.

Networks use profits from commercials run during the show to pay the production company, which in turn pays the cast and crew, and keeps a share of the profits for itself. (Networks sometimes act as both production companies and distributors.) As advertising rates are based on the size of the audience, measuring the number of people watching a network is very important. This measurement is known as a show or network's ratings. Sweeps months (November, February, May, and to a lesser extent July) are important landmarks in the television year—ratings earned during these periods determining advertising rates until the next sweeps period, therefore shows often have their most exciting plot developments happen during sweeps. From the earliest days of the medium, television has been used as a vehicle for advertising in some countries. ... When TV viewers or entertainment professionals in the United States mention ratings they are often referring to Nielsen Ratings, a system developed by Nielsen Media Research to determine the audience size and composition of television programming. ... In the United States the sweeps period determines local advertising rates. ...

Shows that are successful with audiences and advertisers receive authorization from the network to continue production. Those that are not successful are often quickly told to discontinue production by the network, known as cancellation. There are instances of initially low-rated shows surviving cancellation and later becoming highly-popular, but these are rare. For the most part, shows that are not immediately even moderately successful will be cancelled by the end of November sweeps.

Regulation

Broadcast television is regulated by the Federal Communications Commission. The FCC awards licenses to local stations, which stipulate stations' commitments to educational and public-interest programming. The FCC also prohibits the airing of "indecent" material over the air between 6 a.m. and 10 p.m. Although broadcast stations can legally air almost anything they want late at night -- and cable networks at all hours -- nudity and profanity are very rare on American television. Broadcasters fear that airing such material will turn off advertisers and encourage the federal government to strengthen its regulation of TV content. Premium cable networks are exceptions, and often air very racy programming at night. Some networks, such as Playboy TV, are devoted exclusively to "adult" content. The FCCs official seal. ... A dictionary definition of Indecent not conforming with accepted standards of behaviour or morality. ... “Clothes free” redirects here. ... Look up Profanity in Wiktionary, the free dictionary. ... Playboy TV is a Pay-per-view cable/satellite channel available in the United States, Canada, New Zealand, the United Kingdom and Ireland. ...

Cable television is largely, but not entirely, unregulated. Cable systems must include local over-the-air stations in their offerings (see must-carry) and give them low channel numbers. The systems cannot show broadcast-network affiliates from other parts of the country. In the United States, must-carry is a regulation by the FCC requiring that cable TV systems must carry all locally-licensed television stations. ...

History of American television

Main article: History of television (Technology)

Main article: List of years in television (Milestones presented in chronological order)

Main article: (Programming Schedules)

Television first became commercialized in the U.S. in the early 1940s, initially by RCA (through NBC, which it owned) and CBS. A number of different broadcast systems had been developed through the end of the 1930s. The National Television System Committee (NTSC) standardized on a 525-line broadcast in 1941 that would provide the basis for TV across the country through the end of the century. Television development halted with the onset of World War II, but pioneers returned to the airwaves when that conflict ended. The History of television technology can be divided along two lines: those developments that depended upon both mechanical and electronic principles, and those which are purely electronic. ... This page indexes the individual year in television pages. ... RCA, formerly an acronym for the Radio Corporation of America, is now a trademark owned by Thomson SA through RCA Trademark Management S.A., a company owned by Thomson. ... NTSC is the analog television system in use in the United States, Canada, Japan, South Korea, the Philippines, Mexico, and some other countries, mostly in the Americas (see map). ... See also: 1940 in television, other events of 1941, 1942 in television and the list of years in television. ... Combatants Allied powers: China France Great Britain Soviet Union United States and others Axis powers: Germany Italy Japan and others Commanders Chiang Kai-shek Charles de Gaulle Winston Churchill Joseph Stalin Franklin Roosevelt Adolf Hitler Benito Mussolini Hideki Tōjō Casualties Military dead: 17,000,000 Civilian dead: 33,000...

There were only a few dozen stations operating at the end of the decade, concentrated on the East and West coasts. The FCC began handing out broadcasting licenses to communities of all sizes in the early 1950s, spurring an explosion of growth in the medium. A brief debacle over the system to use for color broadcasts occurred at this time, but was soon settled. Half of all U.S. households had TV sets by 1955, though color was a premium feature for many years (most households able to purchase TV sets could only afford black-and-white models, and few programs were broadcast in color until the mid-1960s). The 1950s decade refers to the years 1950 to 1959 inclusive. ... See TV (disambiguation) for other uses and Television (band) for the rock band European networks National In much of Europe television broadcasting has historically been state dominated, rather than commercially organised, although commercial stations have grown in number recently. ... See also: 1954 in television, other events of 1955, 1956 in television and the list of years in television. // Events April 1 - The DuMont Television network drastically cuts back its programming. ...

Many of the earliest TV programs were modified versions of well-established radio shows. The '50s saw the first flowering of the genres that would distinguish TV from movies and radio: talk shows like The Jack Paar Show and sitcoms like I Love Lucy. Stations across the country also produced their own local programs. Usually carried live, they ranged from simple advertisements to game shows and children's shows that often featured clowns and other offbeat characters. Local shows could often be popular and profitable, but concerns about product promotion and other issues led them to almost completely disappear by the mid-1970s. A talk show (U.S.) or chat show (Brit. ... The First Lady of the United States, Laura Bush and current host Jay Leno. ... This article is about a genre of comedy. ... I Love Lucy is a television situation comedy starring Lucille Ball and Desi Arnaz, and featuring Vivian Vance and William Frawley. ... “Quiz show” redirects here. ... Childrens television shows are television programs designed for and marketed to children, normally aired during the morning and afternoon hours, mainly before and after school. ... “Clowning” redirects here. ... The 1970s decade refers to the years from 1970 to 1979, also called The Seventies. ...

Cable television (now often "cable" in name only — satellite broadcasts are increasingly important) became a force in the early '80s and has been growing in significance since that time. Coaxial cable is often used to transmit cable television into the house. ... Satellite television is television delivered by way of communications satellites, as compared to conventional terrestrial television and cable television. ...

The U.S. is now moving to digital television. A law passed in 2006 requires over-the-air stations to cease analog broadcasting by February 2009. Digital television (DTV) is a telecommunication system for broadcasting and receiving moving pictures and sound by means of digital signals, in contrast to analog signals used by analog (traditional) TV. DTV uses digital modulation data, which is digitally compressed and requires decoding by a specially designed television set, or a...

See also

• Media in the United States
• List of United States broadcast television networks
• List of U.S. television series
• List of American television programs by date
• List of years in television
• Television in Australia
• British television
• Television in Canada
• Latin American television
• TV Parental Guidelines

The media of the United States consists of several different types of communications media: television, radio, cinema, newspapers, magazines, and Internet-based Web sites. ... In the United States, for most of the history of broadcasting, there were only four major national broadcasting networks. ... Television shows made for audiences in the fifty states & D.C. of the United States and the U.S. in general are listed in the Fifty States & D.C. section. ... This article or section does not cite its references or sources. ... This page indexes the individual year in television pages. ... Australian television channels include two government owned national networks, three major commercial capital city networks, several regional commercial networks and independent stations that are generally affiliates of the major networks, and a handful of community stations. ... British television broadcasting has a range of different broadcasters, broadcasting multiple channels over a variety of distribution media. ... This article concerns television in Canada, including its history, programming and business. ... This article or section does not cite its references or sources. ... // United States Ratings The TV Parental Guidelines system was introduced on January 1, 1996 in the United States in response to public complaints of increasingly explicit sexual and violent content, and use of scatology, in television programs. ...

External links

• The Museum of Television & Radio
• Museum of Broadcast Communications: The Encyclopedia of Television
• Academy of Television Arts & Sciences
• Now with Bill Moyers: Politics & Media - Big Media - Media Regulation Timeline
• FCC: Television Technology - A Short History
• Dish Network Information
• Turner:Cable Primed to Beat Broadcast, by Anthony Crupi, Mediaweek Dec. 7, 2005.
• AAAA/ANA Annual Study Shows TV Clutter Levels Up Across Most Dayparts by the Association of National Advertisers, Feb. 14, 2002.