Encyclopedia:
Central Time zone,
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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.
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.
Broadcasting concerns
unreferenced|date=September
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.
Alphabetical list of cities and metropolitan areas
*
Acapulco, Guerrero*
Appleton, Wisconsin*
Austin, Texas*
Aguascalientes, Aguascalientes*
Baton Rouge, Louisiana*
Birmingham, Alabama*
Bowling Green, Kentucky*
Cedar Rapids, Iowa*
Chicago, Illinois*
Corpus Christi, Texas*
Cuernavaca, Morelos*
Dallas-Ft. Worth, Texas*
Des Moines, Iowa*
Evansville, Indiana*
Fargo, North Dakota*
Gary, Indiana*
Grand Forks, North Dakota*
Guadalajara, Jalisco*
Guatemala City*
Houston, Texas*
Green Bay, Wisconsin*
Jackson, Mississippi*
Kansas City, Missouri-Kansas*
León, Guanajuato*
Lincoln, Nebraska*
Little Rock, Arkansas*
Madison, Wisconsin*
Managua*
Memphis, Tennessee*
Mérida, Yucatán*
Mexico City*
Milwaukee, Wisconsin*
Minneapolis-St. Paul, Minnesota*
Monterrey, Nuevo León, Mexico*
Nashville, Tennessee*
New Orleans, Louisiana*
Oklahoma City, Oklahoma*
Omaha, Nebraska*
Puebla, Puebla *
Regina, Saskatchewan*
St. Louis, Missouri*
San Antonio, Texas*
San José, Costa Rica*
San Luis Potosí, San Luis Potosí*
San Salvador*
Santiago de Querétaro, Querétaro*
Saskatoon, Saskatchewan*
Shreveport, Louisiana*
Sioux Falls, South Dakota*
Tampico, Tamaulipas*
Tegucigalpa*
Toluca, México*
Torreón, Coahuila*
Tulsa, Oklahoma*
Wichita, Kansas*
Winnipeg, ManitobaSee also
*
Time zone*
Hawaii-Aleutian Time Zone*
Alaska Time Zone*
Pacific Time Zone*
Mountain Time Zone*
Eastern Time Zone*
Atlantic Standard Time Zone*
Newfoundland Standard Time Zone Sources
*
http://www.time.gov/timezone.cgi?Central/d/-6/java Accurate time for the Central Time zoneCategory:Time zoneses:Tiempo Central Estándarja:中部標準時