Scheduling: the last creative act in television?

Abstract

Scheduling is television's key management tool, defining the nature of broadcast output. Yet it has scarcely been studied. Using examples from British television, this article argues that scheduling is the key mechanism by which the structures of television reproduce themselves afresh, day after day. It is the point where the perceived habits and preferences of past viewing audiences govern the arrangement of future television, providing the basic pattern of broadcasting, interpreting and shaping the habits and actions of its viewers and non-viewers. It specifies what programmes are to be made and defines the character or `brand' of each channel and thus the character of each national television universe. As such, it has provided a powerful bulwark against globalization.