Crimetime Saturday
Crimetime Saturday is the official branding for a programming block that started in 2004–05 on the American CBS and Canadian CTV networks Saturday nights. However, the branding is only listed by CBS and industry sources as a placeholder for the time slot, and not as an official on-air branding for the night.
| Network | CBS (United States) CTV (Canada) |
|---|---|
| Launched | September 25, 2004 |
| Country of origin | United States Canada |
| Format | |
| Running time | United States: Saturdays 8:00–11:00pm (2004–2011, 2012, 2014–present) Saturdays 9:00–11:00 (2011–2012) Saturdays 8:00–10:00 (2013–2014) |
The first two hours feature reruns of CBS's crime drama procedural series, which over the years have included the four series of the CSI franchise, Criminal Minds, NCIS, NCIS: Los Angeles, Cold Case, Flashpoint (before its move to Ion Television), The Mentalist, Blue Bloods and FBI, with the final hour featuring a new or encore edition of the CBS News newsmagazine program 48 Hours Mystery, which focuses on true crime stories. Several times a year 48 Hours will air two-hour specials or consecutive episodes.
Beginning in the 2011–2012 season, the block was reduced to two hours from three to make room for Comedytime Saturday, a one-hour sitcom block, from 8 to 9 p.m. ET/PT. However, that hour was restored to Crimetime for the 2012–2013 season due to that block never being executed as planned and becoming a basic hour of repeat sitcoms. In a few cases, burned off shows such as Made in Jersey have aired in the first or both hours to minimize ratings damage, along with a new episode of Vegas in mid-April 2013 pushed up by a night due to CBS News coverage of the apprehension of the Boston Marathon bombing suspect.
The Crimetime block was re-reduced to two hours of Saturday night for the 2013–2014 season with the return of Comedytime Saturday, but returned for the full three hours in the 2014–2015 season after a reduction of CBS's comedy schedule.