Television program

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Not to be confused with broadcast programming.
A live TV show set and cameras.

A television program is a segment of content intended for broadcast on over-the-air, cable television, or Internet television, other than a commercial, trailer, or any other segment of content not serving as attraction for viewership. It may be a single production, or more commonly, a series of related productions (also called a television series or a television show).

A limited number of episodes of a television drama may be called a miniseries or a serial or limited series. Series without a fixed length are usually divided into seasons (U.S.) or series (UK), yearly or semiannual sets of new episodes. While there is no defined length, U.S. industry practice has traditionally favored longer television seasons than those of other countries.





A drama program usually features a set of actors playing characters in a historical or contemporary setting. The program follows their lives and adventures. Except for soap opera-type serials, many shows especially before the 1980s, remained static without story arcs, and the main characters and premise changed little. If some change happened to the characters' lives during the episode, it was usually undone by the end. (Because of this, the episodes could be broadcast in any order.) Since the 1980s, there are many series that feature progressive change to the plot, the characters, or both. For instance, Hill Street Blues and St. Elsewhere were two of the first American prime time drama television series to have this kind of dramatic structure, while the later series, Babylon 5, is an extreme example of such production that had a predetermined story running over its intended five-season run.[1]



Scripted entertainment[edit]

Unscripted entertainment[edit]



United States[edit]




If the show is picked up, the network orders a "run" of episodes—usually only six or 13 episodes at first, though a season typically consists of at least 22 episodes. (The midseason seven and last nine episodes are sometimes called the "mid-seven" and "back nine"—borrowing the colloquial terms from bowling and golf).

United Kingdom[edit]

In contrast to the U.S. model illustrated above, the UK procedure is operated on a sometimes similar, but much smaller scale.




At the production company, which is often separate from the broadcaster, the executive producer, often the show's creator, is in charge of running the show. They pick the crew and help cast the actors, approve and sometimes write series plots (some even write or direct major episodes). Various other producers help to ensure that the show runs smoothly.



Main article: Pre-production




Principal photography[edit]

Main article: Principal photography


Post production[edit]

Main article: Post-production


Budgets and revenues[edit]




Costs are recouped mainly by advertising revenues for broadcast networks and some cable channels, while other cable channels depend on subscription revenues. In general, advertisers, and consequently networks that depend on advertising revenues, are more interested in the number of viewers within the 18–49 age range than the total number of viewers.[9][10] Advertisers are willing to pay more to advertise on shows successful with young adults because they watch less television and are harder to reach than older adults.[11] According to Advertising Age, during the 2007–08 season, Grey's Anatomy was able to charge $419,000 per commercial, compared to only $248,000 for a commercial during CSI, despite CSI having almost five million more viewers on average.[12] Due to its strength in young demos, Friends was able to charge almost three times as much for a commercial as Murder, She Wrote, even though the two series had similar total viewer numbers during the seasons they were on the air together.[9] Glee and The Office drew fewer total viewers than NCIS during the 2009–10 season, but earned an average of $272,694 and $213,617 respectively, compared to $150,708 for NCIS.[13]


Main article: Broadcast syndication


On rare occasions, a series that has not attracted particularly high ratings and has been canceled can be given a reprieve if DVD sales have been particularly strong. This has happened in the cases of Family Guy in the U.S. and Peep Show in the UK.

If the show is popular or lucrative, and a number of episodes (usually 100 episodes or more) are made, it goes into broadcast syndication (in the United States) where rights to broadcast the program are then resold.



North American usage[edit]




UK and Australia usage[edit]

In the United Kingdom and other countries, these sets of episodes are referred to as a "series". In Australia, the broadcasting may be different from North American usage; however, the terms series and season are both used and are the same. For example, Battlestar Galactica has an original series as well as a remake, both are considered different series with their own number of individual seasons.

Australian television does not follow "seasons" in the way that U.S. television does; for example, there is no "fall season" or "fall schedule". For many years, popular night-time dramas in Australia would run for much of the year, and would only go into recess during the summer period (December–February, as Australia is in the Southern Hemisphere), when ratings are not taken. Therefore, popular dramas would usually run from February through November each year. This schedule was used in the 1970s for popular dramas including Number 96. Many drama series, such as McLeod's Daughters, have received in the majority of between 22 and 32 episodes per season. Typically, a soap opera such as Home and Away would begin a new season in late January and the season finale would air in late November, with 220–230 episodes per season. However, during the Olympics, Home and Away would often go on hiatus, which is referred to as an "Olympic cliffhanger". Therefore, the number of episodes would decrease. This is no longer the case, as the Olympics no longer broadcast in winter on the Seven Network as of 2012. Australian situation comedy series' seasons are approximately 13 episodes long and premiere any time in between February and November.



The usage of "season" and "series" differ for DVD and Blu-ray releases in both in Australia and UK. In Australia, many locally produced shows are termed differently on home video releases. For example, a set of the television drama series Packed to the Rafters or Wentworth is referred to as "season" ("The Complete First Season", etc.), whereas drama series such as Tangle are known as a "series" ("Series 1", etc.). However, British-produced shows such as Mrs. Brown's Boys are referred to as "season" in Australia for the DVD and Blu-ray releases.

In the UK, most British-produced shows are referred to as "series" for DVD and Blu-ray, except for shows such as the drama series Hex and Echo Beach, which are known as "season". "Season" is only used for releases of American, Australian, and international shows. Although, in the past when an American series was released, it was referred to as "series", for example, Friends: Series 1. However, any subsequent re-release are now known as "season".[citation needed]

Running time[edit]

In the United States, dramas produced for hour-long time slots typically are 39 to 42 minutes in length (excluding advertisements), while sitcoms produced for 30-minute time slots typically are 18 to 21 minutes long. There are exceptions as subscription-based TV channels (like Showtime) have episodes with 45 to 48 minutes of program, similar to Britain.

In Britain dramas run from about 45 to 48 minutes, with 57 to 59 minutes on BBC1. Sitcoms vary greatly and are between 22 and 27 minutes generally and 27 to 29 minutes on BBC1. The longer duration on the national television channels (BBC1 and BBC2) is due to the lack of advertising, requiring time only for bridging commentary and trailers in each program slot.

Program Guides by Country[edit]

See also[edit]


  1. ^ "Hill Street Blues A Cop TV Turning Point". Mysterynet. 
  2. ^ Lang, Brent (June 6, 2012). "Why Television Is Trouncing Film at Major Media Companies". 
  3. ^ Zakarin, Jordan (June 29, 2012). "Steven Soderbergh Hints at Switch to Television". The Hollywood Reporter. 
  4. ^ "The Oral History of SpongeBob SquarePants," Hogan's Alley #17, 2010
  10. ^ Carter, Bill (April 6, 2010). "An ‘Idol’ Ratings Loss, but Not in Its Pocketbook". The New York Times. Retrieved April 8, 2010. 
  11. ^ "ABC, "Dancing with the Stars" Again Top Monday Television Ratings". City News Service (Beverly Hills Courier). Retrieved October 19, 2011. 
  15. ^ March 25, 2007 Milwaukee Journal Sentinel article entitled, "Vacation's Over; 'the Sopranos' Returning for One Last Shot.[1]
  16. ^ June 24, 2011 Anniston Star article entitled, "Pop Cultured: When summer and the Braves get you down, just flip around.[2]

External links[edit]