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The Short Answer
Black Friday and Cyber Monday bring the steepest TV discounts of the year, 25 to 45 percent off across every brand and size. Can't wait? Amazon Prime Day in July is the next-best window, and buying last year's model during the spring clear-outs is the sleeper move that saves you the most for the least effort.
A TV is one of the easiest big purchases to time well, and one of the easiest to overpay on. Prices swing by hundreds of dollars from week to week, driven by a handful of sale events and a predictable model cycle that pushes last year's sets down fast.
Buy inside one of those windows and you save real money. Buy in June, right before the new models settle in, and you pay full retail for no reason. Here's how the year actually breaks down, from the windows worth planning around to the ones worth skipping, plus the five TVs we'd buy today and the tricks that quietly beat even a Black Friday price.
The TV Deal Calendar
Every sale window, ranked by how much you save
We scored each shopping window on the size of the discount you can realistically expect on a TV. Longer, greener bar means a better time to buy.
The steepest TV cuts of the year, 25 to 45 percent off across every brand and size, with doorbusters on budget and mid-range sets that sell out fast. If you can hold out, this is the one to wait for.
The best summer window at 20 to 35 percent off, and it's especially strong on TCL and Hisense. Best Buy and Walmart run matching sales the same days, so you don't even need Prime.
New models ship after their CES reveal, so last year's flagships get cleared out 20 to 35 percent off. Last year's OLED is still a phenomenal TV, and this is the savviest buy on the list.
Retailers push big screens for game day, so 65-inch and larger sets get marked down 15 to 25 percent. The go-to if you want a big TV in the living room before the big game.
Presidents' Day, Memorial Day and Labor Day add modest 10 to 20 percent discounts on top of whatever clearance is already running. Handy, but not a headline event.
Retailers shave a little here and there, but nothing close to the tentpole events. Fine in a pinch, not worth planning around.
The worst time to buy. New models sit at full MSRP and last year's stock has mostly sold out, so you get thin stock and high prices. Wait a few weeks for Prime Day.
