Broadcast programming


Broadcast programming is the practice of organizing and/or ordering of broadcast media shows, typically radio and television, in a daily, weekly, monthly, quarterly or season-long schedule. The executive in charge of selecting the programs and planning the schedule is sometimes the director of network programming.
Modern broadcasters use broadcast automation to regularly change the scheduling of their shows to build an audience for a new show, retain that audience, or compete with other broadcasters' shows. Most broadcast television shows are presented weekly in prime time or daily in other dayparts, though exceptions are not rare.
At a micro level, scheduling is the minute planning of the transmission; what to broadcast and when, ensuring an adequate or maximum utilization of airtime. Television scheduling strategies are employed to give shows the best possible chance of attracting and retaining an audience. They are used to deliver shows to audiences when they are most likely to want to watch them and deliver audiences to advertisers in the composition that makes their advertising most likely to be effective.
With the growth of digital platforms and services allowing non-linear, on-demand access to television content, this approach to broadcasting has since been referred to using the retronym linear.

History

With the beginning of scheduled television in 1936, programming was initially only concerned with filling a few hours each evening – the hours now known as prime time. Over time, though, television began to be seen during the day time and late at night, as well on the weekends. As air time increased, so did the demand for new material. With the exception of sports television, variety shows became much more important in prime time.

Scheduling strategies

Block programming

Block programming is the practice of scheduling a group of complementary programs together. Blocks are typically built around specific genres, target audiences, or other factors. Blocks also allow these programs to be promoted together under blanket brands.

Bridging

Bridging is the practice of discouraging the audience from changing channels during the "junctions" between specific programs. This can be done, primarily, by airing promos for the next program near the end of the preceding program, such as during its credits.
The host of the next program may similarly make a brief appearance near the end of the preceding program to provide a preview; in news broadcasting, this is typically referred to as a "throw" or "toss". Owing to both programs' news comedy formats, the Comedy Central program The Daily Show similarly featured toss segments to promote its spin-off and lead-out, The Colbert Report, in which host Jon Stewart would engage in a comedic conversation with the latter's host, Stephen Colbert, via split-screen near the end of the show.
In some cases, a channel may intentionally allow a program to overrun into the next half-hour timeslot rather than end exactly on the half-hour, in order to discourage viewers from "surfing" away at traditional junction periods. This can, however, cause disruptions with recorders if they are not aware of the scheduling.
For a period, TBS consistently and intentionally engaged in this practice under the name "Turner Time", scheduling all programs at 5 and 35 minutes past the hour (rather than exactly on the half hour. This also served to attract viewers tuning away from shows that had already started on another channel, so that they could easily catch the next program due to the offset scheduling.

Crossprogramming

Crossprogramming involves the interconnection of two shows. This is achieved by extending a storyline over two episodes of two different shows.

Counterprogramming

Counterprogramming is the practice of deliberately scheduling programming to attract viewers away from another, major program. Counterprogramming efforts often involve scheduling a contrasting program of a different genre or demographic, targeting viewers who may not be interested in the major program. Despite frequently being among the top U.S. television broadcasts of all time, the Super Bowl has had a prominent history of being counterprogrammed in this manner. One of the most prominent examples of this practice was Fox's 1992 airing of a special live episode of In Living Color against the game's halftime show.
Counterprogramming can also involve direct competitors scheduled directly against each other. In some cases, broadcasters may attempt to adjust their schedules in order to avert attempts at counterprogramming, such as getting a slightly earlier time slot, or scheduling the competing program in a different period of the season to avoid competition altogether.

Dayparting

Dayparting is the practice of dividing the day into several parts, during each of which a different type of radio programming or television showing appropriate for that time is aired. Daytime television shows are most often geared toward a particular demographic, and what the target audience typically engages in at that time.
Hammocking is a technique used by broadcasters whereby an unpopular show is scheduled between two popular shows in the hope that viewers will watch it. Public television uses this as a way of promoting serious but valuable content.

Hotswitching

In hotswitching, the showers eliminate any sort of commercial break when one show ends and another begins; this immediately hooks the audience into watching the next show without a chance to change the television channel between shows.

Season splitting

Season splitting is the practice of broadcasting one season of a series in two parts, with a scheduled break in between. This allows for the second half of the season to be programmed strategically separately from the first.

Stacking

Stacking is a technique used to develop audience flow by grouping together shows with similar appeals to "sweep" the viewer along from one show to the next.

Stripping

Stripping is the practice of running a single series in a consistent, daily time slot throughout the week, usually on weekdays. In the U.S., the term is synonymous with syndicated programs, often in reference to reruns of network programs that originally aired on a weekly basis. Shows that are syndicated in this way generally have to have run for several seasons in order to have enough episodes to run without significant repeats. Primetime programming can be stripped on occasion, primarily for telenovelas, as well as runs of game shows promoted as being an event.

Tentpoling

In tent pole programming, the programmers bank on a well-known series having so much audience appeal that they can place two unknown series on either side, and it is the strength of the central show that will draw viewers to the two other shows.

Theming

A broadcaster may temporarily dedicate all or parts of its schedule over a period of time to a specific theme. A well-known instance of a themed lineup is Discovery Channel's annual "Shark Week".
Themed schedules are a common practice around major holidays—such as Valentine's Day, Halloween, and Christmas—where channels may air specials, films, and episodes of their existing programs that relate to the holiday. The practice can help to attract viewers interested in programming that reflects the season. In conjunction with festive programs when relevant, a channel may also target viewers on vacation for holiday long weekends or common school breaks, by scheduling marathons of signature programs and feature film franchises the channel holds rights to, or other themed programming events.
The U.S. basic cable networks Freeform and Hallmark Channel are known for broadcasting long-term holiday programming events. After experiencing success with holiday events such as Countdown to Christmas, Hallmark Channel adopted a strategy of dividing its programming into themed seasons year-round, in an effort to position itself as "a year-round destination for celebrations"..

Time slot

A show's time slot or place in the schedule could be crucial to its success or failure.
A time slot can affect a program's overall audience; generally, earlier prime time slots have a stronger appeal towards younger audiences and family viewing, while later time slots, such as 10:00 p.m., generally appeal more towards older demographics. Some time slots, colloquially known as "graveyard slots" or "death slots", are prone to having smaller potential audiences, or intense competition from high-rated series.