Can anyone explain 8/7c relating to a US TV show?

[bgowland]

To cut a long story short...

I like "The Big Bang Theory" and I 'follow' the official facebook page. There was a post as follows...

That awkward moment when Sheldon catches his mother in the act happens tonight at 8/7c

I'm guessing that "...tonight at 8" would mean 8pm but what is the "7c" part of it? Does that relate to 7pm due to a time-zone or DST difference?

Or is it related to some channel numbering format?

Curious minds need to know.

Cheers,
Brian

[pcostanza]

Yes, 7 is the Central Time Zone and 8 is Eastern. I don't know why but all the times are headed with the Eastern Time Zone.
So, while it's being shown at 8 on the east cost, those of us in the central time zone are still watching it at the same time but its 7.

[johnsonx42]

I believe this is because the eastern & central time zones are more densely populated along the time zone border, and many TV stations cover cities and towns in both time zones. So I gather 'they' decided many years ago to just treat the whole eastern half of the country as one big time zone for TV purposes.

Out west, the time-zone border areas are thinly populated, and most TV stations' coverage is clearly within a single time zone (though I have no doubt there are notabe exceptions up north).

The big annoyance out west is that "live" shows (other than sports) are delayed by 3 hours to coincide with our "primetime". They do this even when the event is happening here! They'll schedule the event at 5pm so that it will be 8 on the east coast, and then delay the coverage here but still advertise it as "Live". In the last few years the internet and wide availability of online video has made this all the more absurd, so some events are now broadcast twice, first truly live and then again at "primetime".

[bgowland]

Thanks guys. It was just one of those things I couldn't quite figure out but it makes sense now.

@johnsonx42 : But what would 8/7c mean for the west coast though? Would it mean it aired at 5pm? Or is this a case of the 3 hour delay bearing in mind the episode of TBBT I referenced was a first showing?

[mikeh49]

There is a second feed for the west coast where we would see the show at the same local time as the east coast. East coast feed runs at 8P, it is then 5P for us on the wast where we are having local news. We see the show at 8P local, which would be 11P on the east coast where they are having local news.

Then there is the Mountain time zone. I think they get their own feed and run at the same local time as Central. Prime time is 8-11 East and West (local) and 7-10 Central and Mountain.

With 5 national networks and many cable channels Schedules Direct is busy. Our cable just went all digital and for some reason we are getting the Eastern feed of USA network while SD thinks we are getting the Pacific feed. I have a ticket in on this. All my Covert Affairs show up as Law and Order on the recordings screen.

[johnsonx42]

But what would 8/7c mean for the west coast though? Would it mean it aired at 5pm? Or is this a case of the 3 hour delay bearing in mind the episode of TBBT I referenced was a first showing?

8/7c means 8pm in every time zone except Central time, where the show airs at 7pm. The TV stations out west build their schedules in local time.