There are 3 segments in which TV schedules are broken down into which are:

Daytime Primetime Watershed

TV Scheduling is governed by target audience and is all about getting the biggest audience possible. The target audience for daytime shows are perhaps people who are unemployed or work late shifts or young children. Primetime shows have the largest target audience of families as a lot of people are home from work or school at this time. Watershed shows are for adults or teenagers as they are shown after 9pm and can show explicit content. 

The most popular genres on television are:

Soaps News Reality

The target audience for each terrestrial channel is:

BBC One - Broad mainstream audience BBC Two - 35-54 year-olds ITV - Family audience Channel 4 - 16-34 Channel 5 - 25-35 which is the opposite of BBC Two

Channels 4 and 5 have more imported programs in their schedules which gives them the chance to earn more viewers as they have more variety on their channels. 

A watershed is the time in the evening, which is usually 9pm, when television shows that may contain explicit content are shown and are not suitable for children. 

Pre-echo - scheduling a program before a popular program or an established program with hope that the audience will tune in next time.

Inheritance - scheduling a new show after a popular or established program.

Hammocking - scheduling a new program between two popular/established shows