What’s on NBC tonight? Here is the full NBC schedule for Tuesday, October 27, 2026, with times in Eastern Time (ET).

NBC’s Tuesday is a single bet on basketball, and it is the only primetime show on the schedule

See also: What's on tonight across all channels | Wednesday's TV guide

NBC has cleared its entire primetime for NBA Basketball, and that is the whole story of the night. The game starts at 8pm ET (5pm PT) and has three hours blocked out, which takes it to 11pm ET. There is no 9pm show and no 10pm show. If you want something on NBC in the evening, this is it, and if basketball isn’t your thing, the network has little else to offer until the late shows.

That is a bold way to run a night, and it is a sensible one. Live sport is the one kind of programming that still gathers a large audience at the same moment, and it is why NBC can afford to leave the rest of the evening to the game. It also means the pick is easy. We can’t say who is playing, but a three-hour live block with the whole network behind it is the clearest event on broadcast television tonight outside the World Series on Fox. Four stars, with the caveat that your enjoyment depends entirely on whether you care about the teams.

The competition is stiff on paper. Dancing with the Stars is on ABC at 8pm ET, and NCIS is on CBS at the same time. Anyone who wants baseball has Fox. The NBA game has to win its audience on its own merits, and a live game starting at 8pm ET tends to do that.

After the game the network picks up local programming at 11pm ET, which is ordinary, and then the late shows. The Tonight Show Starring Jimmy Fallon arrives at 11:35pm ET for 62 minutes, and Late Night with Seth Meyers follows at 12:37am ET. Both are fixtures, on air most nights of the window, which makes them the dependable end to a night that otherwise relies on one live event. Top Story with Tom Llamas runs at 2:13am ET for the insomniacs.

Earlier in the day the schedule is the usual stack. Today runs two hours from 7am ET and is followed by Today 3rd Hour at 9am ET and Today with Jenna & Sheinelle at 10am ET. NBC News Daily has slots at 1pm and 3pm ET, and NBC Nightly News with Tom Llamas anchors the early evening at 6:30pm ET.

NBA Basketball turns up on only two days in the window, tonight and the previous Tuesday, so this is a weekly Tuesday fixture rather than a nightly one. That pattern is worth knowing if you are planning the week around it.

The short version: if you are watching NBC tonight, you are watching basketball. Set the evening around the 8pm ET tip-off and treat the late shows as the cooldown.


Also on TV tonight at 8pm ET

  • ABC: Dancing with the Stars
  • CBS: NCIS
  • FOX: 2026 World Series
  • PBS: Finding Your Roots
  • The CW: WWE NXT
  • ION: Chicago Fire
  • TCM: Arsenic and Old Lace
  • AMC: A Nightmare on Elm Street (from 7pm ET)
  • FX: Independence Day (from 6pm ET)
  • Freeform: Addams Family Values (from 7pm ET)

Every channel tonight, side by side · Movies on TV this week · Tomorrow’s TV


Frequently asked questions

What’s on NBC tonight?

On Tuesday, October 27, 2026, NBC shows NBA Basketball at 8pm ET.

Is there a movie on NBC tonight?

Yes: NBA Basketball (2026) at 8pm ET.

What’s on NBC late tonight?

After 11pm ET, NBC has Local Programs at 11pm ET and The Tonight Show Starring Jimmy Fallon at 11:35pm ET.

What time does NBC’s evening start?

The evening schedule starts with NBC Nightly News with Tom Llamas at 6:30pm ET.

Three hours of Today, two nights of Chicago and a lot of sport

NBC is a schedule built from franchises. Its mornings belong to one show stretched across three titles, its weeknights are organized around two drama families, and its weekends are close to wall-to-wall sport. Across the two weeks we tracked, news and talk took more than half of all airtime, while primetime split between procedural dramas, competition shows and live games.

Like the other broadcast networks, NBC leaves large stretches of the day to local stations. What is left is unusually consistent: about 82% of its airtime goes to titles that come back on three or more days, and almost every weekday network show holds the same slot every day.

What a day on NBC looks like

The weekday starts before dawn with Early Today at 4am, then Today takes over at 7am and simply keeps going. Today 3rd Hour follows at 9am and Today with Jenna & Sheinelle at 10am, so the brand covers four hours of the morning. NBC News Daily fills 1pm, and NBC Nightly News with Tom Llamas arrives at 6:30pm. The 7pm hour is your local station’s.

Primetime runs from 8pm to 11pm ET, and NBC gives each weeknight a clear theme:

  • Monday: The Voice from 8pm for two hours, then a drama at 10pm.
  • Tuesday: The Voice again at 8pm, then a 10pm slot that rotates.
  • Wednesday: the Chicago block. Chicago Med at 8pm, Chicago Fire at 9pm, Chicago P.D. at 10pm.
  • Thursday: The Traitors: New Blood at 8pm, then the Law & Order block: Law & Order: Special Victims Unit at 9pm and Law & Order at 10pm.
  • Friday: a lighter start, then Dateline NBC from 9pm.

Late night is a double act. After local news, Jimmy Fallon’s talk show starts at 11:35pm and Late Night with Seth Meyers at 12:37am. Overnight, Top Story with Tom Llamas and 1st Look keep the news running until Early Today comes round again.

Weekends belong to sport. On Saturdays in the fall NBC has Premier League soccer at 12:30pm and Big Ten college football in primetime, with Saturday Night Live at 11:30pm. Sundays start with Meet the Press at 9am and end with Football Night in America at 7pm and the NFL game at 8:15pm. Once the NBA season starts, a basketball doubleheader can push the regular weeknight lineup aside.

Popular shows on NBC

The Voice is a singing competition that first aired in 2011 and has run for 27 seasons. It takes the 8pm slot on Mondays and Tuesdays in season. Our The Voice guide follows the current season episode by episode.

Sunday Night Football has been NBC’s Sunday primetime anchor since 2006, with Football Night in America, the pregame show, from 7pm. Our Sunday Night Football page has each week’s matchup.

Chicago Fire began in 2012, Chicago P.D. in 2014 and Chicago Med in 2015, and together they fill Wednesday night from 8pm to 11pm. Chicago Fire is a drama whose cast has included Jesse Spencer and Monica Raymund; Chicago P.D. is a police procedural led by Jason Beghe; Chicago Med is a medical drama with Oliver Platt.

Law & Order: Special Victims Unit is a police procedural that first aired in 1999, starring Mariska Hargitay with Ice-T among the long-running cast. At 27 seasons, it leads into the original Law & Order, the police and legal drama that started in 1990 with Sam Waterston and Chris Noth among its cast.

Saturday Night Live is the sketch comedy show that has been on since 1975, now past 50 seasons, with Kenan Thompson among its best-known cast members. It airs live at 11:30pm on Saturdays.

Dateline NBC is a true-crime newsmagazine that dates from 1992 and fills Friday from 9pm, often for two hours.

How to watch NBC

NBC is free over the air with an antenna through your local station. On streaming, episodes arrive on Peacock the next day, and Peacock’s Premium Plus tier includes your live local NBC station.

Live TV streaming services that carry NBC include YouTube TV, Hulu + Live TV, Fubo and DirecTV Stream, plus Sling TV in select markets. NBC is back on Fubo after a long blackout. The network also has its own NBC app.

Channels like NBC

  • ABC is the closest match in shape: a long morning show, news and talk through the day, a 6:30pm newscast and an 11:35pm talk show.
  • CBS runs its own procedural-heavy primetime, with NCIS and FBI blocks in place of NBC’s Chicago and Law & Order nights.
  • ION is where these dramas go to live a second life; it runs long marathons of Chicago Fire, Chicago P.D. and SVU.
  • USA Network is another channel built around crime procedurals.
  • FOX matches NBC’s appetite for weekend sport, with college football on Saturdays and the NFL on Sundays.

Who it’s for

NBC suits viewers who like a fixed weekly routine and do not mind that it is mostly crime, competition and sport. If you follow one of the Chicago or Law & Order shows, the network has made it easy: the same night, the same hour, every week. If you are after comedy, NBC carries little outside Saturday Night Live and the late-night hosts, and if you want films, they are almost entirely absent.

What time is primetime on NBC?

NBC primetime runs from 8pm to 11pm ET on weeknights. On Sundays in the fall, Football Night in America starts at 7pm and the game at 8:15pm.

How can I watch NBC without cable?

With an antenna for the free local signal, or a live TV streaming service such as YouTube TV, Hulu + Live TV, Fubo or DirecTV Stream. Peacock carries episodes the next day.

What night are the Chicago shows on NBC?

Wednesday: Chicago Med at 8pm, Chicago Fire at 9pm and Chicago P.D. at 10pm ET.

When is Saturday Night Live on?

Saturday Night Live airs at 11:30pm ET on Saturdays, after local news.