Central Time zone

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The Central Time Zone observes standard time by subtracting six hours from UTC during standard time (UTC-6) and five hours during daylight saving time (UTC-5). The clock time in this zone is based on the mean solar time of the 90th degree meridian west of the Greenwich Observatory.

In the United States and Canada, this time zone is generically called Central Time (CT). Specifically, it is Central Standard Time (CST) when observing standard time (Winter), and Central Daylight Time (CDT) when observing daylight savings (Summer).

The zone is one hour ahead of the Mountain Time Zone and one hour behind the Eastern Time Zone.

In Canada, this time zone includes all of Manitoba, nearly all of Saskatchewan, a slice of western Ontario, and most of Kivalliq Region, of Nunavut.

In the United States, the time zone includes the entire area of the states of Alabama, Arkansas, Illinois, Iowa, Louisiana, Minnesota, Missouri, Mississippi, Oklahoma, and Wisconsin; and portions of Florida, Indiana, Kansas, Kentucky, Michigan, Nebraska, North Dakota, South Dakota, Tennessee, and Texas. Phenix City, Alabama, and the surrounding countryside, while officially in Central Time, observe Eastern Time because of close ties to Columbus, Georgia. The town of Kenton, Oklahoma, although residing in the Central Time Zone, observes Mountain Time.

Most of Mexico belongs to the Central Time Zone, with the six northwestern-most states being the exception.

UTC-6 is also observed in the Central American countries of Belize, Guatemala, Honduras, El Salvador, Nicaragua and Costa Rica. In South America, this zone includes the Ecuadorian province of Galápagos. In Oceania, the Chilean Easter Island also belongs to this time zone.

[edit] Central Daylight Time

Daylight Saving Time is in effect in much of the time zone between early April and late October. The modified time is called Central Daylight Time (CDT) and is UTC-5. Saskatchewan, Central America and Galápagos do not observe the change, remaining on Standard Time year round. One reason that Saskatchewan does not take part in the time change is that geographically, most of the province should be placed in the Mountain Time Zone. To avoid this, they have moved onto "permanent" Daylight Saving by being part of the Central Time Zone. The only exception is the region immediately surrounding the Saskatchewan side of the biprovincial city of Lloydminster, which has chosen to use Mountain Time with DST, synchronizing its clocks with those of Alberta.

[edit] Broadcasting concerns

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Due to the structure of broadcasting networks in the United States (mostly television, but to a lesser extent radio as well), programming is aired simultaneously in the Eastern and Central Time zones, which accounts for lines such as "tonight at 8, 7 Central" on many network promotional ads. As a result, morning programming lineups designed for East Coast viewers may start too early for viewers in the Midwest and the central South; hence, they are tape-delayed to air at 7 a.m. Central (except when breaking news happens or special occasions such as the Macy's Thanksgiving Day Parade, which airs at 9 a.m. Eastern/8 a.m. Central, pushing back the morning shows to air live at 6 a.m. Central).

Also, an hour of syndicated programming time (between 7 p.m.-8 p.m. in the Eastern Time Zone) is lost since network prime time starts at 7 p.m. Central, forcing TV stations to choose from airing their 6 p.m. newscast and a program, or airing shows in 'blocks' preferred by syndicators (i.e. Wheel of Fortune and Jeopardy! together, or Entertainment Tonight and The Insider). Many stations in the Central Time Zone tend to air one part of the syndicated block at 5 p.m. or even earlier. The most common set of programming chosen by the big three television networks (ABC, CBS, and NBC) is to air a newscast at 5 p.m., national news at 5:30 p.m., local news at 6 p.m., and syndicated programming at 6:30 p.m. Some stations even show a newscast from 6 to 7 p.m.

Similarly, media coverage of New Year's Eve celebrations in New York City often leave the Central Time Zone in a lurch. Late Night with Conan O'Brien, though produced in New York, semi-annually (as it does not air on weekends) takes advantage of its later time slot (11:35 p.m. Central) to lampoon this inconsistency and produce its own New Year's countdown for television viewers in the Central Time Zone.

Canadian broadcasting networks, with six time zones to span and a larger percentage of its audience residing in the Mountain Time Zone than in the Central Time Zone, sometimes are able to avoid these issues by airing prerecorded programs on local time, although adjustments are sometimes still made (mainly due to the influence of U.S. television). The problem is largely moot in Mexico and other parts of Latin America because of the lack of significant other time zones.