8/7c

[cityevader]

I've always wondered what in the world is meant, when a tv announcer comes on and says a certain show starts at, say, 8 o'clock/7 central.

It starts at 8 regardless of what time zone, right? so why say 8/7c?

 

[LED_astray]

I've assumed they broadcast on East Coast time and just played that for the Central time zone.

West coast has always been tape delayed.

 

[LowBat]

There may still be some programming broadcast simultanously across the time zones. In such a case the 8 mountain and 7 central would apply.

 

[cityevader]

In such a case the 8 mountain and 7 central would apply.

But wouldn't that be 8 mountain and 9 central? "Earlier" the farther west you go. It seems that the first number is always East coast time? And if that is indeed tru, why not just say 8o'clock and be done with it?

 

[LukeA]

The first time given is always Eastern, which is why no one says 8e/7c.

It would be ambiguous to just say "X o'clock" or X:30"" or what have you or otherwise omit any reference to timezone to describe all programming start times because some programming is shown simultaneously in multiple timezones (not tape delayed) and some broadcast viewing areas span two timezones.

For a nationwide simulcast with an 8 o'clock Eastern time start it goes: 8 Eastern, 7 Central, 6 Mountain, 5 Pacific.

 

[KC2IXE]

It's because the central time zone stations get their feed from the "east cost feed" - I BELIEVE the Mountain Time zone stations MOSTLY grab the West Coast Feed

Interestingly, the West coast feed IS 3 hours behind the East Coast feed for 90+% of the shows (Obviously live is not etc)

I know, for instance, Good Morning America (I used to work for ABC) is done live on the East Cost, and is taped for the west cost feed, UNLESS there is something 'breaking', and then MOST of the show is still 'in the can' and they keep the studio hot to do updates in the news segments. Used to cause all sorts of havoc with me scheduling in computer/software updates, because computer support down there usually left for the day around Noon-1:00 (or earlier) as they basically worked mixed shifts that started as early as around 10:00pm the night before. Most folks start at 2:00am, so when the show is going off the air at 10:00am eastern, they have done their 8 hours, and just want to go home

Some good folks down on the crew over there. For tech geeks, I think watching the control room is a LOT more fun than the show itself. Eaxactly how they handle any breaking stories, how they decide what IS breaking, and how they handle when a guest goes over their time slot by30 secons, or worse, 2-3 minutes - remember, they STILL have to make the commercial breaks on the EXACT second

 

[LowBat]

But wouldn't that be 8 mountain and 9 central? "Earlier" the farther west you go. It seems that the first number is always East coast time? And if that is indeed tru, why not just say 8o'clock and be done with it?

You're right I had it reversed.