TV Schedules for the Florida Region

I am off on tuesday to Orlando Florida for 2 weeks. My mother is interested in seeing what American TV is like, she has the view its all like Jerry Springer, so I have been trying to find some schedules online I can print out.

It could be me, but I have gone to sites like nbc.com and fox.com and tried to check the schedules, but on some days only 2 programmes are listed, and surely this cannot be the case?

If someone could please explain how TV schedules work in the US, if it is different to the UK, as well as help me find some listings for channels available in the Orlando area, Zip Code: 32821 if its any help...

TV Guide for 32821

And it's not like UK network sites where they not only show their own schedules, but the other network schedules as well. On US TV network sites, you won't find such a thing.

The individual local TV sites (and sites like TV Guide) show you listings for the next 2 weeks.

www.rogersimmons.com/tv

This site's about TV stations in Central Florida (ie Orlando). You'll be able to find link to the Orlando stations from there.

TV scheduling in the US is actually pretty straightforward. Shows usually begin either at the top or the bottom of the hour, so normally you don't get odds and ends like "Tuesday at 9.40". A typical schedule:

Local and network morning news in the morning, followed by soaps and other daytime talk shows, then local lunchtime news, then more soaps and more daytime talk shows. Then local news beginning at 5pm (some cities at 4) and network news. Prime access at 7pm (which means Wheel, Jeopardy, Entertainment Tonight and the likes), network prime time from 8-11 (8-10 on Fox, WB and UPN), local news at 10 or 11 depending on the station and market. Late night talk shows at 11.35 (pretty much where the shows do not begin exactly at the bottom of the hour). Then infomercials. ABC has overnight news service. And that's for Eastern and Pacific time zones; network prime time starts at 7pm for Central (and probably Mountain).

If your mom wants to check out Jerry Springer and the likes, it really takes a little more digging. Those shows are syndicated, which means they don't show up on just one network. Springer may be on the Fox station in Seattle, but the WB station in Orlando. The TV Guide site that sda mentioned should be of help.

Do not forget to check out all the quality tv shows on the local PBS affiliate WFME-TV channel 24 UHF

(And from October 14th, 2003, WFME-DT on channel 23 UHF)

And for the best in news, check out NPR's Morning Edition, and in the evening All Things Considered
on the local NPR affiliate on your radio dial WFME-FM 90,7 MHz VHF

Here's USA Today's TV listings section on their website, and using the same zipcode Sda's given - you should find the listings here, although when I tried to access it it seemed a bit slow... (Bloody dial-up! lol! This is what | get for living in an area where NTL haven't got the right cables!)

Not that much digging, sadly. The daytime schedules are saturated with inflamatory talk shows.

When she gets there, pick up a TV guide in the supermarket at the checkout. Its infinately easier than planning television viewing before you fly.

Be prepared for the way they do their advertising - they come on with no warning, including breaks after the credits and before the titles. I've even seen an affliiate station plonking adverts over the grand final of a daytime quiz show - we had no idea if the contestant won or not

Larry, you should have been out doing something more interesting that watching the Price is Right every lunchtime on CBS. Oh wait, thats me!

[quote="Gavin Scott"]
that won't work...the tv guide will be for the subsequent, rather than current, week.

Well, it close enough for the times of daytime talk shows, innit? There wont be that much varience week to week. Personally, (and given that I'm going in 20 days myself), I'd rather be looking at the theme park websites to see whats new(!).

That's right... The air time shouldn't change from week to week. In fact, you should be able to watch the same show everyday (weekday anyway) at the same time on the same channel. Unless, of course, the 2003-04 season starts in a few weeks, and the stations may pick up new syndicated programming and move their shows around. But if you're leaving Tuesday then the changes probably won't kick in for another couple of weeks. I'd still say there really isn't much worth watching anyway.