prime-time
[f. prime a. + time, in senses 1, 2 prob. after F. printemps: cf. prec.]
† 1. Springtime, spring. Obs.
| 1503 Kalender of Sheph. a iij, iiii. sayssons the qwych ar:..Prymtym, sommer, autom, & wynter. Ibid. a iij b, The saysons..of the qwych ewyrych oon has iii. moneth. Prymtym as fewryer, mars, awryl. c 1516 [see primerole]. a 1533 Ld. Berners Gold. Bk. M. Aurel. xiv. (1534) G vij b, If a tree beareth not in Primetime his flowers, we hope not to haue the fruite in haruest ripe. a 1548 Hall Chron., Hen. VII 4 b, In y⊇ pryme tyme of the yere he toke his iorney towardes Yorke. 1609 Bible (Douay) Jer. xxiv. 2 Good figges: as the figges of the prime time are wont to be. |
† 2. The early age (of the world, etc.). Obs.
| 1587 Golding De Mornay xxvi. (1592) 402 It befel in the primetime of the worlde. |
3. Broadcasting. (Except in attrib. use usu. as prime time.) The time of day when an audience is expected to be at its largest; a peak listening- or viewing-period. Also attrib. and absol., prime-time television. Also transf.
| 1964 Variety 2 Dec. 31/3 For the first time in years, WNBC-TV has copped the number one rating position in prime time, in the highly competitive N.Y. market. 1966 [see E.S.T. s.v. E. III]. 1971 Daily Tel. 13 Feb. 15/7 A 2p coin will buy three minutes time for local calls in prime time and six minutes at night and weekends. Ibid. 17 Apr. 19/3 The average [commercial local radio] station should aim to sell some 17,500 minutes of prime time in an average year at an average rate of {pstlg}10 per minute. 1973 R. Stout Please pass Guilt (1974) xiv. 143 That ad would have made a wonderful five-minute spot... She would have been glad to pay for prime time—say ten o'clock. 1976 Billings (Montana) Gaz. 18 June 12-d Jaclyn Smith is one of the gals who's huckstered in TV commercials a committee studied along with prime⁓time programs to determine the image given women on the small screen. 1977 New Yorker 10 Oct. 124/2 The Grand Central Racquet Club..charges the highest fee I know of for renting either of its two courts—forty-five dollars an hour in prime time. 1978 G. Vidal Kalki vii. 179 Wasn't Kalki blown to bits before our very eyes on prime-time? |