Hiatus (television)

In television scheduling, a hiatus refers to a break of at least several weeks in the normal schedule of a broadcast programming. It can occur during a season of a television program, or can be between television seasons (usually starting in June and ending in August when shooting starts for the next season) which is called a mid season break

Planned hiatus

Many times television stations will implement a hiatus for their television programs for the sheer purpose of splitting up a season, just so it will run for longer until the next season is completed. An example of this is NBC's show Heroes, which took a 2-month hiatus starting in February 2007 and returned at the end of April 2007.^{[citation needed]} Some programs also go on hiatus so that their television networks can reserve episodes for airing during ratings sweeps, wherein networks compute their television advertising fees based on their programs' ratings during that period. Programs "return from hiatus" in time for the sweeps period so as to generate high ratings, and as such usually include special content in programming such as guest stars, controversial and unexpected plots or topics, extended episodes and finales. An example of this is South Park, which usually airs seven new episodes during the spring sweeps, and seven more new episodes during the fall sweeps.

Cancellation

Main article: Cancellation (television)

A network may put a show on hiatus before canceling it. This may be to:

• evaluate the series quality.
• warn the television producers in an effort to push them to produce a more profitable product.
• fill its timeslot with another program to compare ratings.
• warn viewers that the show is not pulling its weight in ratings.And, as a result, see how the show performs in reruns before deciding whether or not it deserves another season.

Other reasons for hiatus

• On occasion, a series may be put on hiatus for other reasons. In August 2009, VH1 placed its reality series Megan Wants a Millionaire on indefinite hiatus when contestant Ryan Alexander Jenkins was wanted for the questioning as a "person of interest" in the murder of Jasmine Fiore. The show would soon be cancelled following Jenkins' murder charge.
• The Pokémon anime was put on hiatus in Japan from December 17, 1997 until April 16, 1998 after the airing of an episode which caused 685 viewers to have seizures from the only airing of the episode on December 16.
• The 2007–2008 Writers Guild of America strike forced several television series (including Pushing Daisies, Eli Stone, Chuck, and Heroes) to go into hiatus and deferred the scheduled returns of other series such as 24 for an extended period.
• The television series 8 Simple Rules was put on a hiatus because of the death of main cast star John Ritter.
• The television version of Roman Mysteries was put on hiatus after the kidnapping of Madeline McCann, as the episode involved pirates kidnapping a group of children.
• The television series Two and a Half Men was on hiatus because of Charlie Sheen's entry into a rehabilitation center