The "Friday night death slot" or "Friday evening death slot" is a perceived graveyard slot in American television. It implies that a television program in the United States scheduled on Friday evenings (typically, between 8:00 and 11:00 p.m. ET) is likely to be canceled.
The term possibly began as a reflection of certain programs' dominance of Friday night in the 1980s and 1990s, which resulted in decreased ratings for those scheduled at the same time.[1][2][3] By the 2000s, it was used in reference to the belief that young, single Americans rarely watch television on Friday or Saturday nights, thereby removing from the household what is considered the most lucrative demographic for advertisers.[4][5] With the collapse of the traditional network viewing model where viewers had to be in front of the TV to watch shows (and then the evolution from VCR or DVR capabilities to almost all shows being viewed increasingly through on-demand streaming media), the stigma of Friday night scheduling is much less evident or considered today than in the past.
^Katherine Phillips. "Witty sitcoms scheduled in Friday night death slot," Richmond Times-Dispatch, March 28, 1986, page 46: "ABC is sending two of this season's brightest new sitcoms to certain death at the hands of J.R. Ewing and his Dallas clan."
^John Voorhees. "ABC reshuffles schedule for ratings but deals only two new shows," The Seattle Times, December 13, 1985, page C5: "Also being dropped is Our Family Honor, the ABC series that has had the distinction of being the lowest-rated Nielsen show almost every week since its debut. It is in the Friday night death slot of 10 pm, against Miami Vice and Falcon Crest.'
^Knight-Ridder News Service. 'Family Honor' ditched for 'Spenser', Lexington Herald-Leader (KY), October 19, 1985, page C6: "Spenser: For Hire, the above-par detective series starring Robert Urich, is being moved out of the Friday-night death slot opposite Miami Vice and Falcon Crest. ... To make room for "Spenser," ABC is taking "Our Family Honor" off the air [Tuesdays], at least for a while and perhaps permanently.
^News: Election 2006, The Austin Chronicle
^Goodman, Tim (October 10, 2007). "Saturday night is dead, yes, but Friday, too?". San Francisco Chronicle. pp. E1. Retrieved February 7, 2012.
and 22 Related for: Friday night death slot information
A graveyard slot (or deathslot) is a time period in which a television audience is very small compared to other times of the day, and therefore broadcast...
primetime audience and had fluctuating ratings, due in part to its Fridaynightdeathslot. In its first season on the air it placed 63rd in the prime-time...
have been due to its inability to compete in the Friday 8 pm ET timeslot (the "Fridaynightdeathslot"). It was based on the real-life story of Samantha...
season, but moved it to the Fridaynightdeathslot. Like the Original Series, Enterprise's ratings dropped during this time slot, and UPN canceled Enterprise...
FridayNight Television's 'Time Slot Of Death'?". NPR.org. Retrieved 2019-09-09. "Upfront uproar: The inside dope on Fall TV's 5 toughest time slots"...
critical support, had incredibly low ratings due to its place in the Fridaynightdeathslot, although the show did significantly better once moved to Monday...
E4 and Channel 4 in the UK. The season had been shifted to the Fridaynightdeathslot and ratings for the first 8 episodes were extremely low (especially...
the show for Fridays at 9:30pm, sandwiched between the poorly-rated Star Trek and filler documentaries, known as the Fridaynightdeathslot, leading to...
through its six-season run on NBC. Despite airing in the so-called Fridaynightdeathslot, it managed to peak at No. 2 in the ratings (behind All in the...
preceded Ally McBeal on Monday nights. However, Fox moved it to the Fridaynightdeathslot for its fourth season. Viewership declined as a result and it was...
America, Friday nights are often considered to be the "Fridaynightdeathslot", due to the concept that many shows scheduled on or moved to Friday nights...
the Fridaynightdeathslot, Everybody Loves Raymond, after its move to Monday night in March 1997, rose up to tying with Friends and Monday Night Football...
ABC moved Norm to Friday nights (also known as the Fridaynightdeathslot), in an effort to create a new "Working Comedy" Fridaynight comedy lineup after...
Rules was facing cancellation because of Ritter's death and poor ratings. The Fridaynight "deathslot" ratings took their toll on 8 Simple Rules. The third-season...
returned with new episodes in September 2003, but in the so-called Fridaynightdeathslot at 8:00 pm. It was canceled on November 7, along with the new Fox...
time slot since the Block Party was canceled, a programming strategy that has been a relative success in the so-called "Fridaynightdeathslot." Lowry...
Global Information