live television

Live television is a television production broadcast in real-time, as events happen, in the present. In a secondary meaning, it may refer to streaming television over the Internet when content or programming is played continuously (not on demand). For example, the Pluto TV app has two categories for viewing: "Live TV" & "On Demand." On its website, Xfinity states "Watch TV series and top rated movies live and on demand with Xfinity Stream."

In most cases live programming is not being recorded as it is shown on TV, but rather was not rehearsed or edited and is being shown only as it was recorded prior to being aired. Shows broadcast live include newscasts, morning shows, awards shows, sports programs, reality programs and, occasionally, episodes of scripted television series.

Live television was more common until the late 1950s, when videotape technology was invented. Because of the prohibitive cost, adoption was slow, and some television shows remained live until the 1970s, such as soap operas. To prevent unforeseen issues, live television programs may be delayed, which allows censors to edit the program. Some programs may be broadcast live in certain time zones and delayed in others.

Types of programs

From the early days of television until about 1958, live television was used heavily, except for filmed programs such as ''I Love Lucy'' and '' Gunsmoke''. Although videotape was invented in 1956, it cost $300 per one hour reel ()
meaning it was only very gradually adopted. Some genres, such as soap operas, did not completely abandon live broadcasts until the mid-1970s.

In general, a live television program was more common for broadcasting content produced specifically for commercial television in the early years of the medium, before technologies such as video tape appeared. As video tape recorders (VTR) became more prevalent, many entertainment programs were recorded and edited before broadcasting rather than being shown live.

Morning shows

As of September 2021, Television networks provide most live television for morning shows with television programs such as: '' Good Morning Britain'', '' BBC Breakfast'', '' This Morning'', '' Breakfast with Eamonn and Isabel'', etc. broadcast live in the UK; ''Sunrise'' live in Australia; ''Your Morning'' live in Canada; and ''Today'', ''Good Morning America'', and ''CBS Mornings'' in the U.S., which air live only in the Eastern Time Zone. The only exceptions are ''CBS Saturday Morning'' and '' Sunday Today with Willie Geist'', which air live in the Eastern and Central time zones. Spanish-language morning shows (such as ''Despierta America'' and ''Un Nuevo Día''), unlike their English speaking counterparts, air live in across the mainland U.S. except for viewers in the Pacific time zone, which, along with viewers in Hawaii and Alaska, have tape-delayed shows.

A few daytime talk shows in the U.S. broadcast live before a studio audience in select time zones. Shows such as ''Live with Kelly and Ryan'' and the ''Wendy Williams Show'' air live in the Eastern time zone only, while shows such as ABC's '' The View'' air live in the Eastern and Central time zones. '' The Talk'' on CBS airs live in the Eastern and Central time zones Monday through Thursday. A separate program is taped on Thursday afternoon for airing on Friday. Affiliates in the remaining time zones air these programs on a tape delay. Most other daytime talk shows and late night programs are taped before a live studio audience earlier in the day and edited for later broadcast.

Entertainment shows

Major entertainment events, such as award shows and beauty pageants, are often broadcast live in primetime hours based on U.S. East Coast's schedule. In the 21st century, reality competition franchises began to emerge (such as, in the United States, ''American Idol'' and '' Dancing With The Stars''), where viewers could vote for their favorite acts featured in live performances, but ''American Idol'', as of , is the only reality competition series to have broadcast live in all U.S. territories at the same time.

Scheduling of live entertainment programming may be complicated in countries that span multiple time zones, such as Mexico, Canada and the United States, where programming is aired live in the easternmost time zones, but may be delayed in order to air in local primetime hours in western markets (although since the last decade, Canada and Mexico have regularly televised all major live events simultaneously across all of their territories).

Historically, live global sports and breaking international news programming are usually broadcast live in all time zones worldwide. Several award shows began to air live in all time zones worldwide in order to avert the need to avoid "spoilers" via the internet and social media outlets in the onset of the latter's rise in the late 2000s. For decades, the Academy Awards have continuously broadcast live in Alaska and both U.S. coasts (and now including Hawaii and American Samoa by the late 2010s), and are later joined by the Golden Globe Awards since the early 2010s. In recent years, the Primetime Emmy Awards, Grammy Awards and Tony Awards have joined airing live in all U.S. territories.

Some award shows like the Billboard Music Awards and the MTV Video Music Awards have switched annually between delayed and live nationwide telecasts since the mid-2010s as a result of the declining viewership across live event television in the same period.

News shows

Most local television station newscasts are broadcast live in the U.S. as they are an essential medium for providing up-to-the-minute weather forecasts and breaking news stories. Broadcast television networks in the United States typically air their evening newscasts live in the Eastern and Central time zones. A separate "Western Edition" is broadcast to viewers in the Pacific Time Zone. When a major breaking news event occurs, whether nationally or globally, broadcast television networks will break into regularly scheduled programming and will televise a live "special report" in all time zones. Local television stations break into regularly scheduled programming in the event of severe weather warnings or major local breaking news stories that occur within their viewing area.

Cable news outlets (such as CNN and Fox News Channel) air continuous live programming during the day, and air rebroadcasts of earlier live shows during the late night hours, except in cases where breaking news occurs.Shows such as Hannity on the Fox News Channel are pre-recorded the afternoon of its broadcast. However, this show occasionally airs live if breaking news or special events are being covered.. The ''PBS NewsHour'' airs live on PBS stations in the Eastern Time Zone. Sunday morning news programs in the USA such as ''Meet The Press'' on NBC, '' This Week'' on ABC, and ''Fox News Sunday'' air live in the Eastern Time Zone (including a limited number of small markets in the Central Time Zone), while ''CBS Sunday Morning'' and ''Face The Nation'' on CBS air live in the Eastern and Central time zones.

Cable outlets (such as CNN and Fox News Channel) incorporate the word ''LIVE'' in their network logo (also known as a digital on-screen graphic) when those networks broadcast live content. Some (but not all) sports cable networks will opt to insert the word ''LIVE'' somewhere on the corner of the screen. With the exception of special breaking news reports and overseas sporting events, broadcast television networks rarely display such a graphic during its live programming. (although NBC did display the word LIVE next to their logo during its Olympic coverage when live content was being broadcast, a practice that was continued by its sister station, NBCSN, until its closure in 2021.)In 2015, NBC began inserting the word ''LIVE'' above its on-air graphic during live telecasts of "Undateable" and "The Wiz", and in 2016, the Golden Globe Awards. However, they do not display the ''LIVE'' graphic during programs such as ''Saturday Night Live'' and the ''NBC Nightly News''. Broadcast networks such as CBS, ABC, PBS, and FOX typically do not display a LIVE graphic during any of their live telecasts.

Local television station newscasts display time and temperature during their broadcasts, and only display the word LIVE when they air a news report or a live shot on location. Some networks have begun to insert (in addition to the word LIVE) the local time of where that news report is originating from, particularly when that report is airing live via satellite from overseas.

Sports and other events

As of the current decade, major sporting events like the World Series, Super Bowl, World Cup, NBA Finals, and Olympic Games have been broadcast entirely live in all U.S. territories, encompassing both prime time hours of both U.S. coasts, simultaneous with the live global telecasts of these events in accordance with the official international broadcasters of such games.

Other events that air live all across U.S. territories include multi-network coverage of U.S. presidential and congressional elections, U.S. presidential inaugurations, the State of the Union Address, presidential news conferences, Presidential Addresses to the Nation, the Tournament of Roses Parade, and funerals of major national or international public and religious figures. Local television stations air live local election coverage and special events, such as large scale parades, big city marathons, funerals of major local public and religious figures, inauguration ceremonies of big city mayors and governors, installation masses of cardinals or bishops in a major Catholic archdiocese, and pep rallies for a major sports team. In the UK, events such as the State Opening of Parliament are broadcast live.

Uses of live television

Live television is often used as a device, even in scripted programming to take advantage of these often to great success in terms of attracting viewers. The NBC live comedy/variety program ''Saturday Night Live'', for example, has been on that network continuously since 1975 and airs live in the Eastern and Central zones (including the Pacific and Mountain zones beginning 2017 in its transition to its first live season all across the continental U.S. beginning 2018) during the show's season which runs from October though May.

On September 25, 1997, NBC aired two separate live broadcasts (for viewers in both U.S. coasts) of an episode of '' ER'', which at the time ranked as the most watched episode of any U.S. medical drama program ever. Many television news programs, particularly local news ones in North America, have also used live television as a device to gain audience viewers by making their programs appear more exciting. With technologies such as production trucks, satellite truck uplinks, a news reporter can report live "on location" from anywhere where a story is happening in the city. This technique has attracted criticism for its overuse (like minor car accidents which often have no injuries) and resulting tendency to make stories appear more urgent than they actually are.

The unedited nature of live television can pose problems for broadcasters because of the potential for mishaps, such as anchors being interrupted or harassed by bystanders shouting profane phrases. In 2015, a female CityNews journalist confronted a group of young men who had used the phrase; one of them later lost his job after he was identified. Channels often broadcast live programs on a slight delay (usually on single-digit seconds only) to give them the ability to censor words and images while keeping the broadcast as "live" as possible.

Notable events on live television

Many events have happened on live television broadcasts that are well-remembered, sometimes because they were part of a major breaking news story already, and always because they happened unexpectedly and before audiences of thousands or millions of viewers.

News

*September 30, 1929 – The BBC
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