Sweeps week starts October 29 and runs to November 25 (yes, the media's definition of a "week" is severely messed up).
https://entertainment.howstuffworks.com/how-sweeps-week-works.htm#:~:text=Hit%20Popular%20TV%20shows%20reserve%20those,Bieber%20%28no%2C%20that%20wasn%27t%20a%20nightmare%29.&text=Hit%20Popular%20TV%20shows,that%20wasn%27t%20a%20nightmare%29.&text=TV%20shows%20reserve%20those,Bieber%20%28no%2C%20that%20wasn%27t
In popular culture, "Sweeps Week" is shorthand for brazen attempts to lure in viewers using every TV trick in the book.
Sweeps Week stunts have evolved over the decades. In the 1970s and 1980s, Sweeps Week was dominated by epic miniseries like "Roots," "The Holocaust," and the controversial nuclear apocalypse flick "The Day After" [source: Wallenstein]. More recently, networks have shifted to sensationalist "ripped from the headlines" TV movies, like ABC's "Fatal Contact: Bird Flu."
Hit Popular TV shows reserve those most exciting plot twists and special guests stars for Sweeps Weeks. If one of the characters on "Friends" or "How I Met Your Mother" had a baby or got married, it was bound to happen during Sweeps Week. The same with those bizarre episodes of "CSI" featuring Taylor Swift and Justin Bieber (no, that wasn't a nightmare).
Local TV stations get in on the act, too. Sweeps Week is when local news anchors focus all of their journalistic energy — and jettison all remaining integrity — on broadcasting stories that warn of imminent death from everyday objects ("Spatulas That Kill!" "Killer Yogurt!" and "Death by Automated Doors!"
or feature half-naked women ("Sports Bras That Kill!" .
The media is well aware that controversy sells and uses it on a regular basis, but "sweeps week" is all hands on deck - run the most controversial stories and dig up as much dirt as possible.
Hey, that reminds me of a song!
Edit history
= new reply since forum marked as read
