Citing a Radio or TV show in APA

Step 1: Formatting the personnel name

• The author’s name should be written in reversed order. The last name should be first place followed by a comma and then add the initials of the first name only, follow it with a period.

—Example: Howard, F.


• In adding the middle initials of the author, place it after the period of the first name, separate it with a comma and end it with a point.

—Example: Howard, F., E.


• If the author’s name have suffixes such as Jr./Sr. or roman numerals, place it after the period of the initials of the first name and separate it with a comma.

—Example: Howard, F., Jr.


• In citing films, place the title of the personnel listed in the citation i.e. Director, Editor, Producer etc. after each name inside a parenthesis.

—Example: Howard, F. (Director)


• If the source is written by multiple authors, cite the author’s name one after the other using the format in author names and separate it with commas. If the source has more than six authors, state all of the authors until the sixth and replace all succeeding authors with “et al.”

—Example: Howard, F. (Director), Lee, R. (Producer), Lincoln, A. (Editor), Adams, J. (place title here), Johnson, E.(Place title here), Ronald, T.(Place title here), et al.

Step 2: Formatting the Radio or TV title

If citing an episode of a program series

• First place the date when the show was released, place the year after the last entry of names, enclose it in an open and close parenthesis. Add the title of the program and the episode number, capitalizing the first letter of the title, italicizing it. Next is to indicate whether it is a radio or TV show, place the indication beside the main title inside square brackets.

—Example: Howard, F. (Writer), & Lee, R. (Director). (2009).Episode 20 [Television series episode].


• Add the word “In” and then the name of the producer in normal order, (first name’s initials then the last name) then add the word “producer” inside a parenthesis, next add the city of the network the episode was aired, with a colon placed after it and finally the name of the network.

—Example: Howard, F. (Writer), & Lee, R. (Director). (2009). Historically Accurate [Television series episode]. In T. Johnson (Producer), London: BBC

If citing an entire series

• First place the last name and first name’s initials of the producer. Remember to place the word “producer” inside a parenthesis and ending it with a period.

—Example: Howard, F. (Producer).


• Next add the year of broadcast, also inside a parenthesis, next place the title of the series, remember to italicize it. Then place the program type beside the title of the series inside square brackets. Then add the broadcasting network’s city, follow it with a colon then the name of the network.
—Example: Howard, F. (Producer). (2009). Historically Accurate, [Television series]. London: BBC

If citing an individual broadcast

• If the citation only taken from a selected part of a source, indicate the chapter and page/s where the citation is found. Remember to place the abbreviation “pp” for pages, “p” for page, finally end it with a period. Place the pages after the volume or the name of the magazine.

—Example: Howard, F. (2009, June 1). War is over. Sunday times, p. 12.


• If the citation is taken from consecutive pages in a source, place a hyphen between the first page cited and the last page. (pp 65-68). If the pages are not consecutive, place a comma between pages cited. (pp 32,43,54,66)