Hawaii Five O Time Slot and Broadcast History
The original Hawaii Five O aired on CBS from September 20, 1968, to April 5, 1980, and was scheduled in the Friday evening lineup for most of its run, moving between 9:00 PM and 10:00 PM Eastern times depending on the season and network programming decisions. The reboot titled Hawaii Five-0 premiered on CBS on September 20, 2010, and aired Fridays at 9:00 PM Eastern until its final episode on April 3, 2020, according to network schedules and industry databases CBS Official Site.
The series ran for 12 seasons on CBS, totaling 281 episodes for the original and 240 episodes for the reboot, making it one of the longest running police dramas in American television history. Both versions were distributed internationally by CBS Studios and later by Paramount Global, with streaming availability on platforms such as Paramount+ and Amazon Prime Video in multiple regions Paramount+.
Cast Earnings and Financial Data
Jack Lord, star of the original series, reportedly earned a salary of $50,000 per episode during the early 1970s, which adjusted for inflation is roughly $400,000 per episode in late 2020s dollars, according to entertainment industry reports and historical salary analyses Forbes. The reboot cast led by Alex O'Loughlin and Scott Caan earned reported per-episode salaries in the range of $100,000 to $200,000 during the middle seasons, with stars such as Daniel Dae Kim and Grace Park leaving the show in 2017 over reported pay disputes.
Hawaii Five-0 generated significant advertising revenue for CBS, with Friday night dramas historically commanding CPM rates between $20 and $30 in the U.S. market during the 2010s, according to industry advertising data. The show also contributed to tourism interest in Hawaii, with the state tourism authority reporting increased search traffic and visitor inquiries linked to the series, which supports local hospitality and entertainment sectors Hawaii Tourism Authority.
Cultural Legacy and Audience Metrics
The original Hawaii Five O theme music composed by Morton Stevens became one of the most recognized television themes in the U.S., and the catchphrase bookem Danno entered popular culture as shorthand for law enforcement action. The reboot modernized the franchise with updated technology, diverse casting, and storylines reflecting contemporary policing, while retaining the iconic title sequence and Hawaii based setting.
Audience measurement firms such as Nielsen reported that the original series regularly ranked in the top 20 U.S. television programs during the 1970s, while the reboot consistently placed in the top 30 during its run with an average of 10 to 12 million weekly viewers. The franchise remains a reference point in discussions of long running crime dramas, with streaming data showing continued interest in both the original and reboot episodes on digital platforms Nielsen.