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McDonald’s fastest growing business hours are late night

Turns out not many people are listening to Oprah Winfrey and not eating after 7 p.m.

Fast food giant McDonald's, which recently reported strong quarterly earnings, announced their fastest growing time segment in the U.S. is between midnight and 5 a.m.

According to a Wall Street Journal article, "Nearly 40 per cent of its U.S. outlets are now open around the clock, up from about 30 per cent seven years ago."

It gave some morning show anchors a chance to chow down on burgers and fries on air at the wee hours of the morning.

But it isn't just McDonald's that is seeing the growth in the late-night market. Many Burger King outlets stay open all night and all of them are required to be open until at least midnight on Fridays and Saturdays and 11 p.m. the rest of the week. Dunkin' Donuts has also doubled the number of outlets staying open 24-hours in the past decade.

Canadians also have an appetite for the late-night, or in some cases, very early morning snack or coffee. According to the Tim Hortons website, "Most standard Tim Hortons locations offer 24-hour drive-thru service, catering to consumers on the go."

The Journal article points to the growing number of Americans working late shifts as a reason for the trend. Buzzfeed had a different way to explain it. "I have two words to explain such a phenomenon: drunk people."