HypnoDefinition of the day: Today's entry: "Watershed" (television)

[Deja Q]

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Watershed_%28television%29

Watershed is a term used to describe a time in television schedules during which it is permissible to show television programmes which have 'adult content'. Adult content can be generally defined as having at least some nudity, explicit sexual intercourse, graphic violence, strong language, or drug references or use.

*** snippie ***

United Kingdom

According to Ofcom, the watershed on standard television in the UK starts at 9:00pm, and finishes at 5:30am the next morning. On premium film or pay-per-view services requiring a subscription, the watershed starts at 8:00pm. However, 12, 15 and 18 rated films can be shown on pin protected chanels (such as Sky Movies) at any time of the day. Viewers are required to enter their PIN to view. There should be a gentle transition to adult material, and 18-rated material is not allowed to be shown before 10:00pm.

See also for the UK: The Ofcom Broadcasting Code - Section 1

United States

The watershed (or "safe harbor") begins at 10:00pm and finishes at 6:00am the next morning (all time zones), though some content (explicit human sexual intercourse and frontal nudity, for example) is never allowed by the FCC rules. Note that FCC rules only apply to channels broadcast terrestrially and not those only available on cable, such as certain restricted-access networks (like the premium channels HBO and Showtime and adult channels Playboy TV and Spice). Some of the most infamous scenes of American television (like the naked cast of NYPD Blue) happened at the 10:00pm-11:00pm hour; however, these broadcasts were before the Safe Harbor in the Central and Mountain time zones, where programming scheduled for 10:00pm EST would typically be broadcast starting at 9:00pm (using a one-hour tape delay in Mountain time).

Because the FCC interprets safe harbor times as local time, some networks would get fined for complying with the law in one part of the country, while breaking the law in other time zones, Such was the case with CBS, who was fined USD $3.63 million for a repeat episode of Without a Trace in December 2004, which was televised at 10:00pm in the Eastern and Pacific time zones (within the watershed), but at 9:00pm in Central and Mountain times (outside the watershed). It's these time zones that led the FCC to issue the fines, to be split among 111 CBS affiliates covering these time zones. <1>

In the 1970s, the ill-fated Family Viewing Hour tried to make the 8:00pm-9:00pm hour safe for family consumption, but was overturned in court due to the way it was instituted.

Mind you, in the US on Sundays, Watershed time seems to be from 7PM to 10PM CST...