Japanese television programs

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Japanese television programs are mostly broadcast in Japan, although satellite and cable services outside Japan offer TV shows selected to fit local tastes.

While TV programs vary from station to station, some generalizations can be made. Early morning hours are dominated by news programs, and these run to around 9:00 to 9:30 AM. They are then replaced by late morning shows that target wives who have finished house work. These run to around 1:30PM, at which time reruns of dramas and information programs that target the same age group start. At around 5:00PM, the young kid-oriented anime and TV shows start, and end around 6:00PM. News programs takeover for an hour ending in 7:00PM, when the "Golden Hour" of TV shows start. 7:00PM to 9:00PM are the time periods into which TV stations pour the most resources. Appearing in this time frame is a certain sign that an actor or actress is a TV star. After 9:00 they switch over to Japanese television dramas and programs focusing on older age groups, which run till 10:00 or 11:00PM. Some stations run news programs from 10:00PM, and around midnight sports news programs run which target working ages. After these, programs for mature audiences run as well as anime that do not expect enough viewers if they were run earlier.

Japanese television programs well known in English-speaking countries include the following: