Live television is a television production broadcast in real-time, as events happen, in the present. In a secondary meaning, it may refer to streaming television where all viewers watch the same stream simultaneously, rather than watching video on demand.

Shows broadcast live include newscasts, morning shows, awards shows, sports programs, reality programs and, occasionally, episodes of scripted television series.

Live television was more common until the late 1950s, when videotape technology was invented. Because of the prohibitive cost, adoption was slow, and some scripted television shows remained live until the 1970s, such as soap operas. To prevent unforeseen issues, live television programs may be delayed, which allows censors to edit the program. Some programs may be broadcast live in certain time zones and delayed in others.

From the early days of television until about 1958, live television was used heavily, except for filmed programs such as I Love Lucy and Gunsmoke. Although videotape was invented in 1956, it cost $300 per one hour reel (equivalent to $3,470 in 2024) slowing its adoption. Some genres, such as soap operas, did not completely abandon live broadcasts until the mid-1970s.

In general, a live television program was more common for broadcasting content produced specifically for commercial television in the early years of the medium, before technologies such as video tape appeared. As video tape recorders (VTR) became more prevalent, many entertainment programs were recorded and edited before broadcasting rather than being shown live.

As of September 2021, Television networks provide most live television for morning shows with television programs such as: Good Morning Britain, BBC Breakfast, This Morning, Breakfast with Eamonn and Isabel, etc. broadcast live in the UK; Sunrise live in Australia; Your Morning live in Canada; and Today, Good Morning America, and CBS Mornings in the U.S., which air live only in the Eastern Time Zone. The only exceptions are CBS Saturday Morning and Sunday Today with Willie Geist, which air live in the Eastern and Central time zones. Spanish-language morning shows (such as Despierta America and Un Nuevo Día), unlike their English speaking counterparts, air live in across the mainland U.S. except for viewers in the Pacific time zone, which, along with viewers in Hawaii and Alaska, have tape-delayed shows.

A few daytime talk shows in the U.S. broadcast live before a studio audience in select time zones. Shows such as Live with Kelly and Mark and Sherri air live in the Eastern time zone only, while ABC's The View air live in the Eastern and Central time zones. A separate program is taped on Thursday afternoon for airing on Friday. Affiliates in the remaining time zones air these programs on a tape delay. Most other daytime talk shows and late night programs are taped before a live studio audience earlier in the day and edited for later broadcast.

Major entertainment events, such as award shows and beauty pageants, are often broadcast live in primetime hours based on U.S. East Coast's schedule. In the 21st century, reality competition franchises began to emerge (such as, in the United States, American Idol and Dancing With The Stars), where viewers could vote for their favorite acts featured in live performances, but American Idol, as of 2025^[update], is the only reality competition series to have broadcast live in all U.S. territories at the same time.