Daytime television in the United States

Outline of American television programming broadcast between mid morning and late afternoon
further information about the genre and daytime television programs broadcast worldwide

Daytime television is the general term for television programs produced for broadcast during the daytime hours on weekdays; programs broadcast in the daypart historically (though not necessarily exclusively) have been programmed to appeal to a female audience. In the United States, the daytime slot follows the early morning daypart (typically dedicated mainly to local and network morning shows), usually running Monday through Friday from 10:00 a. m. to 4:30 p. m. local time. (A broader definition of the daypart includes the designated "early morning," "early access" and "prime access" dayparts as well as weekends, encompassing programs aired between 6:00 a. m. and 8:00 p. m. ET/PT; under the alternate definition, daytime programming ends one hour early outside of the Eastern and Pacific Time Zones due to regional adjustments to the start of network prime time schedules.) This article focuses on television programs and genres common in American daytime television, primarily focusing on programs typically shown on national over the air television networks and in syndication.

There are several different genres or formats of daytime programming that are produced. Most of these shows can be produced on a low budget, as these shows have to be able to make at least five new episodes per week (sometimes more) for most of the year. Most daytime shows are syndicated, meaning local stations buy the rights to air them.

Commercials aired during weekday daytime programming mostly advertise food & drink, household goods, feminine products, and baby/child care products that target housewives and stay at home moms, who make up the largest portion of the daytime viewing audience. Public service announcements are also usually aired during daytime hours. Additionally, commercials tend to target retired persons through advertisement of such products as timeshare and retirement insurance, such as those available through AARP. During the 1980s, an entire series of diabetes testing supply commercials were produced for daytime television by Liberty Medical, which became well known due to their spokesman Wilfred Brimley and his often direct and gruff nature when addressing the audience. Commercials aired during weekend daytime programming, especially during sports programming, target mostly (though not exclusively) male audiences. Such commercials advertise beer and other alcoholic beverages, men's hygiene (especially shaving products), new vehicles, auto parts and auto maintenance facility chains, personal and corporate business, personal computers/electronic devices and other office equipment, home entertainment equipment (TVs/stereos), finance (especially banks, credit card and loan companies), airlines, luxury hotels, and upscale restaurants and pubs.

There are currently many different court shows produced in United States daytime television. Most of these shows usually deal with one, sometimes two small claims court cases per episode. Other shows deal with family law or reenactments of more serious cases. The cases are typically a form of binding arbitration between two litigating parties who agree to drop their conventional lawsuit to appear on television; they are not scripted, the participants are not actors, and decisions are handed down by real judges or attorneys. All of the following court shows are syndicated. Court shows usually occupy the morning and late afternoon time slots.

Syndication is the practice of selling rights to the presentation of television programs, especially to more than one customer such as a television station, a cable channel, or a programming service such as a national broadcasting system. The syndication of television programs is a fundamental financial component of television industries. Long a crucial factor in the economics of the U. S. industry, syndication is now a worldwide activity involving the sales of programming produced in many countries. While most of the series currently in syndication are either still in production or have only recently ended their runs, the most popular series can command syndication runs lasting decades beyond the end of their production. Off network syndicated programming mostly airs reruns of cancelled prime time network shows and normally occupies the mid/late morning and late afternoon time slots. Networks have also been known to rerun scripted programming in daytime, though much less so with the proliferation of syndication, cable television and satellite television in the 1980s and 1990s. The last time a network is known to have done this is when CBS aired reruns of Designing Women from 1991 1992. However, it wasn't until 14 years later in 2006 When Daytime WB aired reruns of Reba along with previous shows such as ER since 2009 no major TV networks has aired any reruns on the daytime slot. Note that the series listed below are not necessarily restricted to daytime and can air in any open time slot.

Long before Nickelodeon and other youth oriented cable channels launched, children's programs were also part of network and syndicated television's daytime programming lineup. These programs specialized in entertainment and education for preschool and children of elementary school age and mostly occupied morning time slots as well as after school hours (4:00pm – 6:00pm ET). Captain Kangaroo, which aired on CBS from 1955 to 1984, was one of television's longest running and most popular program of the genre; while Romper Room was a staple in syndication. PBS also aired various children's programs; among its most popular being Sesame Street, The Electric Company, and Mister Rogers' Neighborhood. Local stations also occasionally aired classic cartoons along with classic reruns of The Mickey Mouse Club and Our Gang comedy shorts (billed as "The Little Rascals"); as well as youth oriented sitcoms such as Happy Days, What's Happening! !, and Saved By The Bell. From the 1970s through the 1990s, ABC and CBS aired weekly specials for teenagers and pre adolescents: ABC Afterschool Special and CBS Schoolbreak Special, which aired once a week during after school hours in the academic school year, pre empting their affiliate stations' regularly scheduled programming on that day. Some stories in these specials were light in nature, while other stories focused on more serious teen issues; such as teen pregnancy, drug/alcohol abuse, runaways, bullying, and family issues.