# What TV show has aired on the most different channels during the same day / week? **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [April 10, 2003, 7:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-tv-show-has-aired-on-the-most-different-channels-during-the-same-day-week/167863 "2003-04-10T19:44:54Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 18\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Morbo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/morbo/32/389_2.png) [@Morbo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Morbo)\ **Post date:** [April 10, 2003, 7:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-tv-show-has-aired-on-the-most-different-channels-during-the-same-day-week/167863/1 "2003-04-10T19:44:54Z")
I was inspired by this question while watching _The X-Files_ a while back. It occurred to me (after I got turned off by the whole Clone/Bee/Conspiracy plotline thing) that I could watch a different episode on FOX, F/X, Sci-Fi, TNT and a local San Francisco affiliate at different times over the same couple of days, or even the same day. I started wondering what show has achieved such syndication saturation that it can be seen on several different channels within the same cable provider? What doesn’t count are: • Several different episodes airing throughout the day on the same channel (i.e. _L&O_ all friggin’ day on TNT) • An extremely popular show that is always on all over the US, but in different cities, not the same cable provider (i.e. _The Simpsons_) • Something that interrupts normal programming (i.e. a Presidential Address) • Pro Sports. Two local baseball / football games and different baseball / football games on national channels shouldn’t count. • Regional Digital Cable is the upper limit. I’m sure I could find 200 episodes of _Seinfeld_ on Satellite TV at the same time, but they wouldn’t be “local” so that’s disqualified. So are Sports packages that show every pro game. So, can anyone think of a show that has been on the most different networks at the same time? _Antiques Roadshow_ is another guess - locally you can watch it on 2 different PBS channels, (KQED, KTEH), BRAVO and KCSM. So far I’ve got: _X-Files_: 5 channels _Antiques Roadshow_: 4 Channels Let’s see if we can find a winner! Huzzah! ---
**Author:** ![Casey1505](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/dc4da7/32.png) [@Casey1505](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Casey1505)\ **Post date:** [April 10, 2003, 7:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-tv-show-has-aired-on-the-most-different-channels-during-the-same-day-week/167863/2 "2003-04-10T19:52:12Z")
Would the concert they had for NYC after the WTC attacks be disqualified? It was on almost every channel at the time, IIRC. Also, I’m a bit confused that you DQd The Simpsons, but not X-Files. ---
**Author:** ![mobo85](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/b19c9b/32.png) [@mobo85](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/mobo85)\ **Post date:** [April 10, 2003, 8:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-tv-show-has-aired-on-the-most-different-channels-during-the-same-day-week/167863/3 "2003-04-10T20:08:03Z")
I am also confused on how you count syndicated _X-Files_ reruns, but not syndicated _Simpsons_ reruns, as well as three local PBS channels (KCSM is public television, too). ---
**Author:** ![Morbo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/morbo/32/389_2.png) [@Morbo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Morbo)\ **Post date:** [April 10, 2003, 8:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-tv-show-has-aired-on-the-most-different-channels-during-the-same-day-week/167863/4 "2003-04-10T20:44:55Z")
If syndicated _The Simpsons_ airs on your specific cable provider on several different channels, then you can count it. It’s only on FOX and the local UPN affiliate out here. I only gave it as an example to demonstrate that I’m not looking for “what show can be seen all over the US at any given time.” I think the NYC concert would fall under “interrupting normal programming.” If you have ten PBS channels on your specific cable provider, then by all means you can pick “Yan Can Cook” or the like. ---
**Author:** ![digs](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/digs/32/14889_2.png) [@digs](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/digs)\ **Post date:** [April 10, 2003, 8:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-tv-show-has-aired-on-the-most-different-channels-during-the-same-day-week/167863/5 "2003-04-10T20:57:42Z")
Hey, nothing beat having Batman on Wednesday AND Thursday nights, with a cliff-hanger in between! ---
**Author:** ![digs](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/digs/32/14889_2.png) [@digs](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/digs)\ **Post date:** [April 10, 2003, 9:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-tv-show-has-aired-on-the-most-different-channels-during-the-same-day-week/167863/6 "2003-04-10T21:12:05Z")
Hey, nothing beat having Batman on Wednesday AND Thursday nights, with a cliff-hanger in between! ---
**Author:** ![voguevixen](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/v/b5ac83/32.png) [@voguevixen](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/voguevixen)\ **Post date:** [April 10, 2003, 10:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-tv-show-has-aired-on-the-most-different-channels-during-the-same-day-week/167863/7 "2003-04-10T22:10:23Z")
Can we count spinoff shows? If so _This Old House_ has to be the Bay Area winner. The new shows run twice during the week on either KTEH or KCSM (and I think once on the weekend). Once a weekend on KQED where it is followed by _Ask This Old House_. Add to that _This Old House Classics_, older episodes that are whittled down to a half hour and rebroadcast on KPIX (Channel 5) at least once a weekend. In addition I think it might also run on HGTV, which some Bay Area cable companies carry but not ours. (We in Union City have an especially craptacular cable company. We don’t even get Sci-Fi or Comedy Central. We get about a dozen shopping and foreign language channels though.) For a while _Roseanne_ was running late Sunday nights on KTVU (Fox) in addition to the afternoons on channel 6/36 (spacing out on the call letters – the A’s station) and WTBS nationally. ---
**Author:** ![Troy\_McClure\_SF](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/troy_mcclure_sf/32/4150_2.png) [@Troy\_McClure\_SF](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Troy_McClure_SF)\ **Post date:** [April 10, 2003, 10:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-tv-show-has-aired-on-the-most-different-channels-during-the-same-day-week/167863/8 "2003-04-10T22:30:05Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by voguevixen \* > \*\*For a while _Roseanne_ was running late Sunday nights on KTVU (Fox) in addition to the afternoons on channel 6/36 (spacing out on the call letters – the A’s station) and WTBS nationally. \*\* KICU, until KTVU eats it up completely. ---
**Author:** ![SmackFu](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/53a042/32.png) [@SmackFu](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/SmackFu)\ **Post date:** [April 10, 2003, 10:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-tv-show-has-aired-on-the-most-different-channels-during-the-same-day-week/167863/9 "2003-04-10T22:57:33Z")
Not the record, but just yesterday I noticed NYPD Blue was on a surprisingly large number of channels, 3. It’s on ABC, Court TV and TNT (I think). Also I get HBO, HBO2 and Pacific Time versions of both of those. That means virtually every HBO series is on 4 different channels. Or is that cheating? ---
**Author:** ![Morbo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/morbo/32/389_2.png) [@Morbo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Morbo)\ **Post date:** [April 10, 2003, 11:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-tv-show-has-aired-on-the-most-different-channels-during-the-same-day-week/167863/10 "2003-04-10T23:16:37Z")
I’d say the different HBOs are no good b/c no other network can air those shows. _Friends_ would be another good one - new on NBC, syndicated on USA and local affiliates. ---
**Author:** ![jackelope](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/a6a055/32.png) [@jackelope](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/jackelope)\ **Post date:** [April 10, 2003, 11:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-tv-show-has-aired-on-the-most-different-channels-during-the-same-day-week/167863/11 "2003-04-10T23:39:04Z")
I don’t have cable TV at home, but a friend who does claims that if he wanted to, he could watch no fewer than _seven[/] different episodes of "M_A_S_H" a day on various channels. I got a little lost in those rules up top, but I think that’s what you’re looking for. ---
**Author:** ![Morbo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/morbo/32/389_2.png) [@Morbo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Morbo)\ **Post date:** [April 11, 2003, 12:44am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-tv-show-has-aired-on-the-most-different-channels-during-the-same-day-week/167863/12 "2003-04-11T00:44:05Z")
M_A_S\*H is on F/X and a local channel out here. That’s the kind of thing I’m looking for. Are my rules really that complex?! :sad: They seem OK to me. BTW, if you’re curious about a local show in your area, use [http://www.tvguide.com](http://www.tvguide.com) - that’s how I was able to get the channels that _Antiques Roadshow_ was on… ---
**Author:** ![Arden\_Ranger](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/b487fb/32.png) [@Arden\_Ranger](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Arden_Ranger)\ **Post date:** [April 11, 2003, 1:55am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-tv-show-has-aired-on-the-most-different-channels-during-the-same-day-week/167863/13 "2003-04-11T01:55:03Z")
Little House on the Prairie. That show seems to _always_ be on _everywhere_ whenever I’m looking for something to watch. At one point with basic cable it was possibe to watch it 10 times a day. ---
**Author:** ![Manduck](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/manduck/32/256_2.png) [@Manduck](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Manduck)\ **Post date:** [April 11, 2003, 2:22am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-tv-show-has-aired-on-the-most-different-channels-during-the-same-day-week/167863/14 "2003-04-11T02:22:46Z")
M_A_S_H saturation isn’t what it used to be. There was a period in the eighties where it seemed like, if you wanted to, you could watch M_A_S_H all twenty-four hours of the day by changing channels every half-hour. ---
**Author:** ![Casey1505](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/dc4da7/32.png) [@Casey1505](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Casey1505)\ **Post date:** [April 11, 2003, 2:46am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-tv-show-has-aired-on-the-most-different-channels-during-the-same-day-week/167863/15 "2003-04-11T02:46:46Z")
What about “Girls Gone Wild” half hour to an hour long commercials? I swear, on the weekends at 4 AM, every channel has them on… That would win. ---
**Author:** ![KGS](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/90ced4/32.png) [@KGS](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/KGS)\ **Post date:** [April 11, 2003, 3:19am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-tv-show-has-aired-on-the-most-different-channels-during-the-same-day-week/167863/16 "2003-04-11T03:19:14Z")
For awhile, “America’s Funniest Home Videos” was airing on three channels simultaneously – ABC, Fox Family, and the Hallmark Network. What’s interesting is that each one aired shows from different eras: Hallmark had Saget, Family had Fugelsang/Fuentes, and ABC of course has that crappy new host. ---
**Author:** ![widdershins](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/f0a364/32.png) [@widdershins](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/widdershins)\ **Post date:** [April 11, 2003, 3:30am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-tv-show-has-aired-on-the-most-different-channels-during-the-same-day-week/167863/17 "2003-04-11T03:30:21Z")
We get _M_A_S_H\* on three channels currently. _The Andy Griffith Show_ would have to be in the running, I’ve seen it on four channels between cable and broadcast TV in the same day. Not a show, but I used to see the film _My Favorite Brunette_ running on four or more channels in a given day especially on weekends before the informercials took over. Once I saw it airing separately on three different cable channels at the same time! ---
**Author:** ![bouv](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/bc8723/32.png) [@bouv](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/bouv)\ **Post date:** [April 11, 2003, 6:03am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-tv-show-has-aired-on-the-most-different-channels-during-the-same-day-week/167863/18 "2003-04-11T06:03:24Z")
Well, a few years ago, living in VT I got to see The SImpsons on my ABC provider at 4 PM, again at 4:30 PM, then they were on my CBC provider at 5:00 PM, and then on my Fox provider at 7 PM. Four Simpsons on three stations every weekday. Also, Friends is syndicated on NBC and TBS where I live, and Seinfeld is syndicated on NBC, TBS, and Fox. The Drew Caryshow is on my Fox, ABC, and TBS stations. ER is on TNT, CBS, and NBC.