# For People in Central Time, is it annoying Prime Time starts at 7 pm? **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [August 10, 2014, 12:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/for-people-in-central-time-is-it-annoying-prime-time-starts-at-7-pm/695231 "2014-08-10T12:20:20Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 14\ **Page:** 4
**Author:** ![enipla](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/54ee81/32.png) [@enipla](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/enipla)\ **Post date:** [August 12, 2014, 5:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/for-people-in-central-time-is-it-annoying-prime-time-starts-at-7-pm/695231/61 "2014-08-12T17:06:26Z")
> [@Procrustus](#): > > I’m up at 7:00 most weekends. Get a few things done before the games You’re sleeping in.😉 > [@PSXer](#): > > but how do west coast people wake up at 10am for football games? > > ungodly early for weekends 10am is early 😕. Goes to show you how different people can be. I have to force myself to stay in bed till 6-6:30(that’s am for you night owls). I usually just give up. My Wife will almost certainly be up by then, and probably already working out at the rec center in town. I’m mountain time, but I don’t think I’ve ever seen a football game start before noon on TV. :shrug:. ---
**Author:** ![EllisDee](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ellisdee/32/4531_2.png) [@EllisDee](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/EllisDee)\ **Post date:** [August 12, 2014, 5:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/for-people-in-central-time-is-it-annoying-prime-time-starts-at-7-pm/695231/62 "2014-08-12T17:17:38Z")
> [@enipla](#): > > I’m mountain time, but I don’t think I’ve ever seen a football game start before noon on TV. :shrug:. The early games kick off at 1pm Eastern, so unless the west coast shows NFL games on tape delay, they are broadcast at 10am local time. Note that the NFL does go out of its way to have games that are actually played on the west coast start at 4pm ET or later. For example, it would be extremely rare / virtually unheard of for a San Diego Chargers home game to start at 10am local time. ---
**Author:** ![ISiddiqui](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/i/97f17d/32.png) [@ISiddiqui](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ISiddiqui)\ **Post date:** [August 12, 2014, 5:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/for-people-in-central-time-is-it-annoying-prime-time-starts-at-7-pm/695231/63 "2014-08-12T17:39:42Z")
Getting up at 7am on a weekend? I don’t get up that early on the weekdays! I have been known to be in bed at 11am or noon on Saturday before (actually most Saturdays) ---
**Author:** ![JohnGalt](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/johngalt/32/184_2.png) [@JohnGalt](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/JohnGalt)\ **Post date:** [August 12, 2014, 5:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/for-people-in-central-time-is-it-annoying-prime-time-starts-at-7-pm/695231/64 "2014-08-12T17:55:27Z")
> [@pulykamell](#): > > Growing up, dinner was anywhere from about 4:30 - 6:00 p.m. Nowadays, standard dinner time is about 7-9 p.m, for me, as a central timer. If I’m inviting people out or over to dinner, 7-8 p.m. would probably be the average expectation. In Minnesota 8:00 PM would be pretty late for a restaurant meal unless you like seeing the Red Lobster team starting to run their vacuum cleaners. Darn near bedtime! ---
**Author:** ![madmonk28](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/madmonk28/32/20811_2.png) [@madmonk28](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/madmonk28)\ **Post date:** [August 12, 2014, 7:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/for-people-in-central-time-is-it-annoying-prime-time-starts-at-7-pm/695231/65 "2014-08-12T19:13:01Z")
> [@etv78](#): > > Do people really eat dinner at 7? That seems ungodly late to me. Even 6 is pushing it. Yeah, I’m not even home from work by 7 most nights, so if I walk the dog, then cook, we usually eat around 8.30 or so. We go to bed around 11.30ish most nights. When I visit my in-laws in Arkansas, it always seems strange watching Stewart and Colber from 10-11. ---
**Author:** ![TBG](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/c89c15/32.png) [@TBG](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TBG)\ **Post date:** [August 14, 2014, 1:14am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/for-people-in-central-time-is-it-annoying-prime-time-starts-at-7-pm/695231/66 "2014-08-14T01:14:08Z")
There’s a 10 **AM** now? I’ll be damned. ---
**Author:** ![Rick\_Kitchen](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/rick_kitchen/32/522_2.png) [@Rick\_Kitchen](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Rick_Kitchen)\ **Post date:** [August 14, 2014, 1:38am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/for-people-in-central-time-is-it-annoying-prime-time-starts-at-7-pm/695231/67 "2014-08-14T01:38:29Z")
I live in Sacramento. For some reason known only to them, the local CBS station starts the network broadcasts at 7 PM and their nightly news at 10. It does benefit us sometimes when shows that are normally on opposite each other elsewhere are an hour apart here. ---
**Author:** ![BigT](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bigt/32/12044_2.png) [@BigT](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BigT)\ **Post date:** [August 14, 2014, 4:36am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/for-people-in-central-time-is-it-annoying-prime-time-starts-at-7-pm/695231/68 "2014-08-14T04:36:12Z")
Now, sports I can understand. I don’t watch many, but I do watch the Super Bowl. And it seems ungodly early starting at 5:30 P.M. This year was the first year I actually caught the kickoff. I still missed the National Anthem and had to catch it on YouTube afterwards. ---
**Author:** ![madmonk28](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/madmonk28/32/20811_2.png) [@madmonk28](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/madmonk28)\ **Post date:** [August 14, 2014, 6:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/for-people-in-central-time-is-it-annoying-prime-time-starts-at-7-pm/695231/69 "2014-08-14T18:28:24Z")
Do people living in central time tend to go to work earlier than people on the coasts? Here a typical office work day would be 9-6ish, is it closer to 8-5ish in the central time zone? ---
**Author:** ![Inner\_Stickler](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/inner_stickler/32/318_2.png) [@Inner\_Stickler](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Inner_Stickler)\ **Post date:** [August 14, 2014, 6:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/for-people-in-central-time-is-it-annoying-prime-time-starts-at-7-pm/695231/70 "2014-08-14T18:32:19Z")
I think that’s generally the standard office time and I’m pretty sure it’s for the reason kunilou postulated. ---
**Author:** ![EllisDee](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ellisdee/32/4531_2.png) [@EllisDee](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/EllisDee)\ **Post date:** [August 14, 2014, 6:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/for-people-in-central-time-is-it-annoying-prime-time-starts-at-7-pm/695231/71 "2014-08-14T18:39:52Z")
> [@madmonk28](#): > > Do people living in central time tend to go to work earlier than people on the coasts? Here a typical office work day would be 9-6ish, is it closer to 8-5ish in the central time zone? Yes and yes. Essentially people in CT and ET do everything at the same time (sleep, eat, work, watch tv). The only thing that’s different is their clocks say a different time and the sun goes down earlier for the ETers. ---
**Author:** ![madmonk28](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/madmonk28/32/20811_2.png) [@madmonk28](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/madmonk28)\ **Post date:** [August 14, 2014, 7:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/for-people-in-central-time-is-it-annoying-prime-time-starts-at-7-pm/695231/72 "2014-08-14T19:56:15Z")
Sorry, I had missed the earlier answer to this question. It woulld be nice to have that extra daylight when you get home, but I am not a morning person. ---
**Author:** ![brad\_d](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/50afbb/32.png) [@brad\_d](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/brad_d)\ **Post date:** [August 14, 2014, 9:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/for-people-in-central-time-is-it-annoying-prime-time-starts-at-7-pm/695231/73 "2014-08-14T21:39:18Z")
In the Pacific time zone, my experience is that “business hours” are generally 8-5. At the two companies I’ve worked at most recently, the reception desk is staffed between 8 AM and 5 PM, for example. Technical staff generally have quite a bit more flexibility regarding hours; at my current place, we (officially, at least) have to be in by 9:00 and we can’t leave for the day before 3:00 PM, but beyond those limits we’re free to structure our schedule as we like it to get 40 hours/week (or, as it usually goes, more). ---
**Author:** ![asterion](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/4da419/32.png) [@asterion](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/asterion)\ **Post date:** [August 14, 2014, 11:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/for-people-in-central-time-is-it-annoying-prime-time-starts-at-7-pm/695231/74 "2014-08-14T23:22:40Z")
> [@EllisDee](#): > > The early games kick off at 1pm Eastern, so unless the west coast shows NFL games on tape delay, they are broadcast at 10am local time. > > Note that the NFL does go out of its way to have games that are actually played on the west coast start at 4pm ET or later. For example, it would be extremely rare / virtually unheard of for a San Diego Chargers home game to start at 10am local time. I can confirm that Mountain zone games kick off at 11 and 2(ish). And as you said, games in the Mountain and Pacific zones are always the late game. You’ll get plenty of Central games kicking off at noon, but I’ve never seen a game in Denver start at 11. As I said, the Mountain zone is great for live sports. Late enough in the morning/evening to not be too early, but early enough to not be up until midnight trying to watch a game. I guess we’ll have to agree to disagree. The only problem in New Mexico is that the blue laws are that you can’t buy alcohol until noon on Sunday. So if you forgot to get beer you’ll be making a beer run at halftime of the first games. And those people in Arizona are the really crazy ones. Half the year in Mountain, half effectively in Pacific, unless you’re on the Navajo reservation, unless you then again cross onto the Hopi reservation. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/for-people-in-central-time-is-it-annoying-prime-time-starts-at-7-pm/695231.md?page=3)