March 11
PRIME TIME DAY
On this day in 1971, television networks ABC, CBS and NBC were told by the Federal Communications Commission that a limited three-hour nightly program service -- or 'prime time' -- would begin in September. The network programs were to be slotted between 8 and 11 p.m. on the East and West coasts -- an hour earlier in the Central and Mountain time zones. The rule set the limit to 3 hours of network programming that a local television station, either owned-and-operated or affiliated with a network, could air during prime time.
The Prime Time Access Rule (PTAR) was repealed by the FCC in 1996. The major networks did not reclaim the early primetime period, most likely due to pressure from affiliates to retain control of one of the more profitable parts of their programming schedules. Several syndicated programs (Entertainment Tonight, Wheel of Fortune, Jeopardy!, etc.) are still broadcast in the prime access hour, and have attracted audiences equal to or greater in size than many network shows.
Those Were the Days, the Today in History service from 440 International
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