Rerun

A rerun or repeat is a re-airing of an episode of a radio or television broadcast. The invention of the rerun is generally credited to Desi Arnaz. There are two types of reruns—those that occur during a hiatus, and those that occur when a program is syndicated. Reruns can also be, as the case with more popular shows, when a show is aired outside of its timeslot (e.g. in the afternoon).

In the UK, the word "repeat" refers only to a single episode; "rerun" or "rerunning" is the preferred term for an entire series/season. "Repeat" is also used to refer to programs shown less than a week after the original broadcast, before the next episode of the series.

The term "rerun" can also be used in some respects as a synonym for reprint, the equivalent term for print items; this is especially true for print items that are part of ongoing series (such as comic strips; Peanuts, for instance, has been in reruns since the retirement and death of creator Charles M. Schulz).