prime time

American

noun

Radio and Television.

the hours, generally between 8 and 11 p.m., usually having the largest audience of the day.

prime time British

noun

the peak viewing time on television, for which advertising rates are the highest

"Collins English Dictionary — Complete & Unabridged" 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012

adjective

occurring during or designed for prime time

a primetime drama

"Collins English Dictionary — Complete & Unabridged" 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012

Other Word Forms

Noun Inflected Forms

prime times

plural

Etymology

Origin of prime time

First recorded in 1955–60

Example Sentences

Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.

See Examples For:

prime time

Garth, who launched the podcast with former castmate Tori Spelling in 2020, is gratified that fans are still passionate about the many relationships in the series, which was the first teen-oriented soap in prime time.

From Los Angeles Times ● Oct. 28, 2026

She became a familiar entertainment star in the 1970s when she hosted her own BBC prime time television show for about a decade.

From BBC ● Oct. 6, 2026

And it finished at prime time for werewolves.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Sep. 9, 2026

Toussaint likens them to one of TV’s greatest prime time soap operas: “It’s like when I was a kid, and we watched ‘Dallas.’

From Salon ● Jun. 21, 2026

I am in prime time to be dropping over!

From "The Hot Zone" by Richard Preston

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Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023