Omnibus (broadcast)

An omnibus (or omnibus edition) is a compilation of daily television or radio episodes that is re-broadcast during the following weekend. The term has been most frequently used in the United Kingdom, though it has also been used in Australia, New Zealand and South Africa. An omnibus is sometimes referred to as a marathon in other countries.

Brookside was the first television soap to have what was called an omnibus edition, in 1991; it continued until the series ended in 2003. EastEnders introduced the equivalent of an omnibus edition starting in the 1980s, but the term "omnibus" was not used until the 1990s.

United Kingdom

Programs that are or have been transmitted in omnibus format in Britain include:

Television:

Programme	Years	Channel(s)
Brookside	1991–2003	Channel 4
Coronation Street	until 2000 2000–present 2006–present	ITV (regionally), ITV2, ITV Network (ITV1, STV, UTV)
Doctor Who	1970s, 1980s	BBC One
EastEnders	1985–1994, 1994–present	BBC One
Emmerdale	until 2000 2000–present 2004–present	ITV (regionally), ITV2, ITV3
Family Affairs	1997–2002	Five
Hollyoaks	1996–present, 2001–present	Channel 4 (part of T4), E4
Home and Away	1999–2000, 1999-2002, 2001–present, 2006–present	ITV2, UK Living, Five, Fiver
Knots Landing	1992–1999	UK Gold
Neighbours	1993–2001, 2008–present,	UK Gold, Five, Fiver
River City	2002–present	BBC One Scotland

Radio:

• The Archers

Internet:

• EastEnders: E20 (January 2010 on BBC Red Button and BBC iPlayer, April 2010–present on BBC Three)

Other countries

• The Bill (from 1987-1999 on ABC Television (Australia)
• Coronation Street on CBC Television (Canada)
• Shortland Street on TV2 (New Zealand)
• Isidingo on SABC3 (South Africa)
• Generations on SABC1 (South Africa)

Marathons

SoapNet in the United States also utilizes the omnibus format for weekend re-airings of their major soap operas; however the term used in that case is marathon (the more common term for omnibus used by North American broadcasters), and the network's dependence on weekend full-week replays of their series has waned as the network has begun to air original and other acquired programming