Television show

A television show, also called a TV program (British English: programme), or simply a TV show, is any content made to be watched on a television set. This content can be shown on air, through satellite, cable, or online using streaming platforms. It does not include breaking news or advertisements.

A show that comes back often is called a television series, and each part of that series is called an episode. Shows can be made in a television studio or by film companies. They are usually shown in groups called seasons in North America and series in other places. Sometimes, a special one-time show is called a television special, and a show with only a few episodes is a miniseries. A television film, or telefilm, is like a feature film made just for TV.

Television shows are often planned to air at certain times and listed in TV listings. But with streaming television, people can watch when they want. Some shows are live, meaning they happen as they are shown, but most are made before they are seen. In the past, people could not easily save a show to watch later, but now they can using devices like VCRs or digital video recorders. Some cable services let people pay to watch a show right away, and streaming services let people watch anytime with a subscription to an OTT platform service.

History

Main article: History of television

The first television shows were simple and rare, only viewable very close to the broadcast tower in the 1930s. Big events like the 1936 Summer Olympics in Germany and the 1937 coronation of King George VI helped people see how useful television could be. But then World War II stopped new developments until after the war ended.

After the war, television grew quickly. In 1947, the World Series inspired many Americans to buy their first TV. In 1948, a popular radio show called Texaco Star Theater became the first weekly variety show on TV, showing that TV could be a great form of entertainment. The first national live television broadcast in the US happened on September 4, 1951, when President Harry Truman gave a speech at the Japanese Peace Treaty Conference in San Francisco.

The first national color TV broadcast in the US was the 1954 Tournament of Roses Parade on January 1, 1954. It took many years for all TV shows to switch to color, but by 1972, all network shows were finally broadcast in color.

Formats and genres

Further information: List of genres § Film and television genres

Television shows come in many different styles and types. Some shows tell made-up stories, like comedies, animations, and dramas. Others are real, like documentaries, news, and reality television. Shows can focus on current events, such as a local newscast, or they can explore history through documentaries and fictional stories. Many shows aim to teach or educate, while others, like situation comedy and game shows, are meant mainly for fun.

Drama shows often have actors playing characters in different times and places. These shows follow the characters' lives and adventures. Before the 1980s, most shows did not change much from one episode to the next, and any changes made during an episode were undone by the end. This meant episodes could be shown in any order. Since the 1980s, many shows have started to change the story or characters over time. For example, shows like Hill Street Blues and St. Elsewhere were among the first to use this style, and later shows like Babylon 5 planned their stories over many seasons.

Production

When someone wants to make a new TV show, they start by creating the main ideas, characters, and people who will work on the show. They then show their idea to different TV channels to see if anyone wants to make the first episode, called a pilot. If a channel likes the pilot, they might decide to air the show in the future.

Making a TV show involves planning, filming, and then putting everything together. During planning, people decide how the show will look, build sets and costumes, and choose actors. Filming happens in studios or real locations, where scenes are shot from different angles. After filming, editors put all the pieces together, add music and effects, and create the final show.

Budgets and revenues

Most TV networks around the world rely on selling ad space or finding sponsors. The main goal for these networks is to have as many viewers as possible. In the past, there were fewer TV channels because of limited space for signals, but now cable TV and satellite television have made many more channels available.

In the United States, making a TV show can cost a lot. A regular episode of a show on a big network might cost about $3 million, while a show on a cable network might cost about $2 million. The first episode, called the pilot, can cost even more. For example, the first episode of Lost cost between $10 and $14 million.

Many TV shows are made this way: a studio pays to make the show, and the network pays to show it, but this payment doesn’t cover all the costs. The studio keeps the show and can make money later by selling it to other places to show, like on DVDs and Blu-rays. This means the studio takes most of the risk, but if the show becomes very popular, it can make a lot of money in the future.

TV networks make money mostly from ads, and they prefer shows that attract viewers aged 18 to 49, since these viewers watch less TV and are harder to reach. Shows that are popular with younger viewers can charge more for ads. For example, during one season, a commercial during Grey's Anatomy cost $419,000, while a commercial during CSI cost $248,000, even though CSI had more viewers overall.

Distribution

After a show is made, it goes to a television network. The network shares the show with its stations, which air it at set times. If many people watch the show, it continues. If not, the show may end. Sometimes, even if a show isn’t very popular, it can continue if many people watch it on home video.

If a show is very popular and has enough episodes, it can be sold to other stations to air again. This helps the creators earn more money.

Seasons/series/strand

The terminology used to define a set of episodes produced for a television series varies from country to country.

North American usage

See also: Serial (radio and television)

In North American television, a series is a connected set of television program episodes that run under the same title, possibly spanning many seasons. During the 1950s, it was common for television seasons to consist of more than 30 episodes—however, the average length has been declining since.

Until the 1980s, most new programs for the US broadcast networks debuted in the "fall season", which ran from September through March and nominally contained 24 to 26 episodes. These episodes were rebroadcast during the spring (or summer) season, from April through August. Because of cable television and the Nielsen sweeps, the "fall" season now normally extends to May. Thus, a "full season" on a broadcast network now usually runs from September through May for at least 22 episodes.

A full season is sometimes split into two separate units with a hiatus around the end of the calendar year, such as the first season of Jericho on CBS. When this split occurs, the last half of the episodes are sometimes referred to with the letter B as in "The last nine episodes (of The Sopranos) will be part of what is being called either 'Season 6, Part 2' or 'Season 6B'", or "Futurama is splitting its seasons similar to how South Park does, doing half a season at a time, so this is season 6B for them." Since the 1990s, these shorter seasons also have been referred to as "split" or "half" seasons, which is done to increase profits, as seen with shows such as The Witcher.

Since at least the 2000s, new broadcast television series are often ordered (funded) for just the first 10 to 13 episodes, to gauge audience interest. If a series is popular, the network places a "back nine order" and the season is completed to the regular 20 to 26 episodes. An established series that is already popular, however, will typically receive an immediate full-season order at the outset of the season. A midseason replacement is a less-expensive short-run show of generally 10 to 13 episodes designed to take the place of an original series that failed to garner an audience and has not been picked up. A "series finale" is the last show of the series before the show is no longer produced. (In the UK, it means the end of a season, what is known in the United States as a "season finale".) Streaming services time finales to the next quarter to induce consumers to renew at least one more quarter.

A standard television season in the United States runs predominantly during autumn. During the summer months of June through roughly mid-September, network schedules typically feature reruns of their flagship programs, first-run series with lower rating expectations, and other specials. First-run scripted series are typically shorter and of a lower profile than those aired during the main season and can also include limited series events. Reality and game shows have also been fixtures of the schedule.

In Canada, the commercial networks air most American programming in tandem with the American television season, but their original Canadian shows follow a model closer to British than American television production. Due to the smaller production budgets available in Canada, a Canadian show's season normally runs to a maximum of 13 episodes rather than 20 or more, although an exceptionally popular series such as Corner Gas or Murdoch Mysteries might receive 20-episode orders in later seasons. Canadian shows do not normally receive "back nine" extensions within the same season, however; even a popular series simply ends for the year when the original production order has finished airing, and an expanded order of more than 13 episodes is applied to the next season's renewal order rather than an extension of the current season. Only the public CBC Television normally schedules Canadian-produced programming throughout the year; the commercial networks typically now avoid scheduling Canadian productions to air in the fall, as such shows commonly get lost amid the publicity onslaught of the American fall season. Instead, Canadian-produced shows on the commercial networks typically air either in the winter as mid-season replacements for canceled American shows or in the summer (which may also improve their chances of being picked up by an American network for a summer run).

Miniseries, limited series, and event series

While network orders for 13- or 22-episode seasons are still pervasive in the television industry, several shows have deviated from this traditional trend. Written to be closed-ended and of shorter length than other shows, they are marketed with a variety of terms.

• Miniseries: A very short, closed-ended series, typically six or more hours in two or more parts (nights), similar to an extended television movie. Many early miniseries were adaptations of popular novels of the day, such as The National Dream (1974), Roots (1977), and North and South (1985).
• Limited series: Distinct from miniseries in that the production is seen to have potential to be renewed, but without the requirement of it having as many episodes as a typical order per season. Under the Dome, Killer Women, and Luther were marketed as limited series. Individual season-length stories of anthology series such as American Horror Story, Fargo, and True Detective are also described as "limited series".
• Event series: Largely considered a marketing term, falling under the general category of event television. The term can be applied to almost any new, short-run series, such as 24: Live Another Day. It has also been used to describe game shows like The Million Second Quiz which aired for just two weeks.

UK, Ireland and Australia usage

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. 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 a different series, each with their own number of individual seasons.

Australian television does not follow "seasons" in the way that US 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 to 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 between 22 and 32 episodes per season.

Typically, soap operas, which have always run in season format in Australia, such as Home and Away, would usually begin a new season in late January, while the season finale would air in late November, as the show is off air for two months, or sometimes longer, depending on the schedule. In recent years,^[when?] a new season would begin in early February, and the season finale would broadcast in early December. Since Home and Away's inception, it normally receives 230 episodes per season. Some seasons have seen between 205 and 235 episodes commissioned. During the Olympics, Home and Away would often go on hiatus, which was referred to as an "Olympic cliffhanger". Therefore, the number of episodes would decrease. Australian situation comedy series' seasons are approximately 13 episodes long and premiere any time between February and November.

British television programmes have tended toward shorter series in recent years. For example, the first series of long-running science fiction show Doctor Who in 1963 featured forty-two 25‑minute episodes, and continued with a similar number each year until it was reduced to twenty-five for 1970 to accommodate changes in production and significantly reducing the actors' workload) and continued to 1984. For 1985 fewer but longer episodes were shown, but even after a return to shorter episodes in 1986, lack of support within the BBC meant fewer episodes were commissioned leading to only fourteen 25‑minute episodes up to those in 1989 after which it was cancelled. The revival of Doctor Who from 2005 has comprised thirteen 45‑minute installments.

There are some series in the UK that have a larger number of episodes, for example Waterloo Road started with 8 to 12 episodes, but from series three onward it increased to twenty episodes and series seven will contain 30 episodes. Recently, US non-cable networks have also begun to experiment with shorter series for some programs, particularly reality shows, such as Survivor. They often air two series per year, resulting in roughly the same number of episodes per year as a drama.

This is a reduction from the 1950s, in which many US shows (e.g. Gunsmoke) had between 29 and 39 episodes per season. Actual storytelling time within a commercial television hour has also gradually reduced over the years, from 50 minutes out of every 60 to the current 44 (and even less on some networks), beginning in the early 21st century.

The usage of "season" and "series" differ for DVD and Blu-ray releases in both Australia and the 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.). British-produced programmes such as Mrs. Brown's Boys are referred to as "season" in Australia for the DVD and Blu-ray releases.

In the UK and Ireland, most programmes are referred to as 'series' while 'season' is starting to be used for some US and international releases.

Egypt

The 1980s and 1990s was the golden age of television miniseries attracting millions of Egyptians. For example, The Family of Mr Shalash miniseries, starring Salah Zulfikar and Laila Taher, was the highest rated at the time.

Running time

In the United States, TV dramas made for one-hour slots are usually 37 to 42 minutes long, not counting ads. Comedies for 30-minute slots are often 18 to 21 minutes. Some cable channels like HBO show longer episodes of 45 to 48 minutes.

In Britain, dramas on commercial channels are 46 to 48 minutes, but on the BBC they can be 57 to 59 minutes because there are no ads. Shorter shows are about 22 minutes on commercial channels and 28 minutes on the BBC. In France, most TV shows are about 52 minutes long. On streaming services like Netflix and Hulu, episodes can be anywhere from under 30 minutes to over an hour. Shows shorter than 25 minutes are called web series.