Dayparting

Many songs that were deemed unsuitable for young listeners were played only during the late evening or overnight hours, when children were presumably asleep.

Even today, the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) dictates less stringent decency requirements for programming aired between the hours of 10:00 p.m. and 6:00 a.m. local time.

Evenings are a popular time for syndicated programs, while overnights are generally automated, either with or without a voice-tracked DJ, though there are a few niche programs that target special audiences in the overnight and early morning hours (Coast to Coast AM, Red Eye Radio and The National Farm Report, among them).

The general solution for this problem is to broadcast delay programming to fit schedules, though another problem develops where West Coast listeners are unable to interact with those programs unless they stream them live from a station east of them, or they have a live video simulcast via a television channel or streaming services.

During prime time, programs that are generally aimed at the entire family (such as movies, which Disney Channel often airs) are common.

Cartoon Network switches from children's programming content later in the evening to carry adult-oriented live-action/animation block Adult Swim, which runs through late night.

Cable and satellite television networks generally broadcast an occasional movie during the daytime slot or acquired programs during prime time.

The U.S. networks Fox and The WB had children's program blocks during the mid-1990s into the early 2000s, and even prior to that, CBS's Match Game exploited this audience to set ratings records in the 1970s.

Occasionally, especially during the 1980s and in the 2000s, programs that were "daytime oriented" sometimes enter the prime time daypart, such as the popular nighttime soap opera Dallas and the game show Who Wants to Be a Millionaire.

Some shows have achieved success on Fridays even with the notion of the "death slot" (examples include CBS's Hawaii Five-0, Blue Bloods and MacGyver, programs within the now-defunct TGIF lineup, and more recently Shark Tank, both aired on ABC in the U.S.).

The phenomenon of fewer viewers on Friday and Saturday is in part because most people (particularly the younger viewers that advertisers often seek) are usually not home to watch television on Friday and Saturday nights as they participate in leisure activities on those days, and as a result, programs that air during this time usually receive low ratings.

However, some cable channels aimed at children, teenagers or preadolescence audiences (such as Nickelodeon, Cartoon Network and Disney Channel) have experienced success with original programs that they commonly air in the perceived Friday and Saturday night death slots; Nickelodeon in particular, has aired first-run teen programs during Saturday prime time since 1992 with the creation of the SNICK block (later renamed TeenNick from 2004 to 2009), as well as ABC's "TGIF" block from the 1980s and '90s.

Late-night shows are predominantly targeted toward younger male audiences (college students and people who suffer from insomnia are also a large audience for late night programs) and feature a common format of a male host delivering a stand-up comedy routine (known as a monologue) centered around current events, followed by several guests and a house band's performance.

Many stations run rebroadcasts of local late news broadcasts at 2:00 a.m., with visual disclaimers that indicate the programming is pre-recorded.

In many areas, PBS member stations may also air encores of children's programs on a digital subchannel at this time.

Until the end of the 1990s (for example BBC One by November 1997[1]) most TV stations around the world would sign-off between around midnight and 3am local time, and showed a test card until the sign-on in the morning.

This is largely due to the increasing status of Saturday prime time as a "death slot", which led most American broadcast networks to abandon first-run scripted fare on that night by the mid-2000s.

Sunday evening is generally treated as a regular weeknight, with popular prime time programs airing.

Unlike other regions, such as the United States and Canada, some programs aired during Saturday primetime in the UK achieve strong viewership levels.

Adult shows such as explicit and horror programs are usually shown on second channels (ITV2 and BBC Two) as soon as Ofcom allows, rather than in the small hours like in some countries.

There are also many channels largely dedicated to replaying now-axed popular shows from the past, such as Agatha Christie's Poirot, The Bill, London's Burning and 'classic' EastEnders.

Friday nights feature live Australian Football League (AFL) and National Rugby League (NRL) matches, as well as less popular series or movies, although lifestyle series Better Homes and Gardens has pulled in high ratings on Friday nights, airing before live sport events.