Late night television in the United States is the block of television programming intended for broadcast after 11:00 p.m. and usually through 2:00 a.m. Eastern and Pacific Time (ET/PT), but which informally can include programs aired as late as the designated overnight graveyard slot.

By definition, late night programming begins on the Big Three television networks (ABC, NBC and CBS) at or shortly before 11:35 p.m. ET/PT, after the conclusion of local late-evening newscasts on their owned-and-operated and affiliated stations; late night programming on other broadcast networks, including Fox and PBS, and cable television channels start at 11:00 p.m. ET/PT. Some streaming services (such as Netflix, Hulu and Amazon Prime Video) have ventured into the late-night talk format at various times in recent years, though these programs are in-format-only, given that episodes are often released before the start of the designated time period.

The following is a list of programs that are currently airing or have previously aired during the late night daypart on American television networks and streaming services.

Current

Broadcast
Network Program title Format Duration
[note 1]
Days Time (ET) Current
host(s)/anchor(s)
Debut
ABC Jimmy Kimmel Live! Talk show 60 minutes Monday–Friday
[note 2]
11:35 p.m. Jimmy Kimmel January 26, 2003
Nightline Newsmagazine 30 minutes Monday–Friday 12:37 a.m. Byron Pitts,
Juju Chang
[note 3]
March 24, 1980
World News Now Overnight newscast 90 minutes 2:30 a.m.
[note 4]
Andrew Dymburt,
Rhiannon Ally
January 6, 1992
CBS The Late Show with Stephen Colbert Talk show 60 minutes Monday–Friday
[note 5]
11:35 p.m. Stephen Colbert September 8, 2015
CBS Overnight News Overnight newscast Monday–Friday 2:00 a.m.
[note 4]
Jericka Duncan (Monday),
Norah O'Donnell (Tuesday–Friday)
September 21, 2015
NBC Saturday Night Live Sketch comedy 93 minutes Saturday 11:30 p.m. (coast-to-coast) Varies by week October 11, 1975
The Tonight Show Starring Jimmy Fallon Talk show 60 minutes Monday–Friday 11:35 p.m. Jimmy Fallon February 17, 2014
Late Night with Seth Meyers Monday–Friday
[note 6]
12:37 a.m. Seth Meyers February 24, 2014
Early Today Overnight newscast
[note 7]
90 minutes 2:30 a.m.
[note 4]
Frances Rivera,
Philip Mena
September 9, 1999
PBS Amanpour & Company World affairs; topical discussion 60 minutes[note 8] Monday–Friday 11:00 p.m. Christiane Amanpour September 10, 2018
Cable/satellite
Network Program title Format Duration Days Time (ET) Current host(s) Debut
Bravo Watch What Happens Live with Andy Cohen Talk show 22 minutes
[note 8]
Sunday–Thursday 11:00 p.m. Andy Cohen July 16, 2009
Comedy Central The Daily Show News/political satire;
talk show
30 minutes Monday–Thursday 11:00 p.m. Guest hosts weekly July 22, 1996
Fox News Gutfeld! 60 minutes
[note 8]
Monday–Friday 11:00 p.m. Greg Gutfeld May 31, 2015
Fox News @ Night with Shannon Bream Current affairs;
Political commentary
Tuesday–Saturday 12:00 a.m. Shannon Bream October 30, 2017
HBO Real Time with Bill Maher News/political satire;
talk show
Friday 10:00 p.m. Bill Maher February 21, 2003
Last Week Tonight with John Oliver News/political satire;
talk show
~ 33 minutes
[note 8]
Sunday 11:00 p.m. John Oliver April 27, 2014
National Geographic StarTalk Science/talk show 60 minutes Monday 11:00 p.m. Neil deGrasse Tyson April 20, 2015
Streaming
Service Program title Format Duration Release day Time (ET) Current host(s) Debut
Apple TV+ The Problem with Jon Stewart Talk/commentary 60 minutes Thursday Streaming Jon Stewart September 30, 2021
Netflix My Next Guest Needs No Introduction with David Letterman Talk show 44–58 minutes Friday Streaming David Letterman January 12, 2018
Peacock The Amber Ruffin Show 30 minutes Streaming Amber Ruffin September 25, 2020

Past

Broadcast networks

ABC

CBS

NBC

Fox

DuMont Television Network

PBS

Telemundo

Telefutura / UniMás

United Network

Syndication

This list does not include the numerous game shows aired during the mid-1980s that often received late-night clearances (such as the 1985 run of The Nighttime Price Is Right) but were not expressly intended for late night audiences, nor does it include talk shows meant for daytime broadcast that air in late night slots in many markets due to either low ratings in their original timeslot, a lack of an available prime daytime slot or as a secondary run.

Metromedia

Westinghouse Broadcasting (Group W)

Programs syndicated by Group W Productions aired on Westinghouse-owned stations and were syndicated to other markets; merged with CBS in 1996 to become Eyemark Entertainment, and folded into King World in 2000 by CBS.

Local television

Cable/satellite

AMC

Adult Swim

BET

Bravo

CMT

Comedy Central

E!

Freeform

Fox News

Foxnet

Fuse

FX

FXX

G4TechTV

HBO

History

MSNBC

MTV

Showtime

Sundance TV

TBS

TechTV

TLC

The Nashville Network

TV Land

TV One

TruTV

USA Network

VH1

Viceland

Streaming services

Amazon Video

HBO Max

Hulu

Netflix

Peacock

See also

Notes

  1. ^ Total duration includes allocated commercial time, unless otherwise noted.
  2. ^ First-run episodes air Monday–Thursdays (except on certain major federal holidays) during weeks when the program is in production; Friday episodes are typically reserved for reruns, although recorded first-run episodes occasionally air on certain Fridays.
  3. ^ Since November 2005, Nightline has maintained a rotating anchor format; presenters listed each solo anchor on assigned nights.
  4. ^ a b c Transmitted in a continuous tape delayed loop until 8:00 a.m. ET/PT for stations in westward time zones to air at accordant airtimes. Local airtimes may vary (usually to be joined in progress) depending on scheduling of late-night syndicated programs, network early-morning newscasts and, except where inapplicable, local morning newscasts as well as delays caused by overruns from network event programming.
  5. ^ During weeks when the program is in production, Monday–Thursday episodes (except on certain major federal holidays) are taped and broadcast on a same-day basis; Friday episodes are recorded following production of the Thursday episode.
  6. ^ First-run episodes air Monday–Thursdays (except on certain major federal holidays) during weeks when the program is in production; Friday episodes are typically reserved for reruns year-round.
  7. ^ On September 11, 2017, NBC began feeding Early Today to its owned and affiliated stations at 3:00 a.m. ET (since moved to 2:30 a.m. ET). The early morning newscast's shift to an earlier live feed—which replaced the second hour of the overnight block formerly branded as "NBC All Night" (then offering a same-day repeat of CNBC's Mad Money) and intended to accommodate expansions of local morning newscasts into the 4:00/4:30 a.m. slot in some markets—resulted in Early Today doubling as a de facto overnight newscast, of which NBC had not offered since the 1998 cancellation of NBC Nightside.
  8. ^ a b c d Running time does not include commercials (note that certain listed cable networks maintain commercial-free programming formats and listed streaming services maintain ad-free tiers, and therefore the program length mentioned alongside this explanatory note is the total running time).

References

  1. ^ Mauk, Maureen (January 2020). "Politics is Everybody's Business: Resurrecting Faye Emerson, America's Forgotten First Lady of Television by MAUREEN MAUK". Journal of Cinema and Media Studies. doi:10.1353/cj.2020.0044. S2CID 226750221.
  2. ^ "Archives - Los Angeles Times". Los Angeles Times.