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Journalism & Media vocabulary · Radio and Television News

Prime time

Meaning in journalism & media, with examples

nounCommon term

In journalism & media, prime time means: The evening hours when the largest number of people watch television, and when channels show their most popular programmes and charge the most for adverts.

In Turkish: prime time, en çok izlenen saat dilimi, akşam kuşağı

How it is used

Channels schedule their main news bulletins, big series and live events in prime time. As an adjective it is often hyphenated: a prime-time slot, prime-time viewers. The exact hours differ between countries.

Example sentences

  1. The documentary was moved to prime time after the strong reviews.

  2. Advertising during the prime-time news costs three times more than in the morning.

Common collocations

  • prime-time slot
  • in prime time
  • prime-time viewers
  • prime-time audience
  • ratingsFigures that show how many people watched a television programme or listened to a radio show, used to compare programmes and set advertising prices.
  • news bulletinA short programme on radio or television that gives the latest news at a regular time, such as every hour or in the evening.
  • broadcastA programme sent out on television, radio or the internet for the public; as a verb, to send out such a programme or to make information widely known.
  • on airBeing broadcast on radio or television at this moment; as an adjective, describing people or things heard or seen during a broadcast.

This word in other fields

The same English word can have a different meaning in another field:

More terms: Radio and Television News

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