# Damn TV delays - mild **URL:** \ **Category:** The BBQ Pit\ **Created:** [November 22, 2010, 3:51am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/damn-tv-delays-mild/561510 "2010-11-22T03:51:11Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 19\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Clothahump](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/51bf81/32.png) [@Clothahump](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Clothahump)\ **Post date:** [November 22, 2010, 3:51am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/damn-tv-delays-mild/561510/1 "2010-11-22T03:51:11Z")
I don’t watch commercial TV all that much. Mostly we DVR it and watch it later. But the goddam networks won’t stick to their schedules because of the stupid football games that run over. I wish that the network execs had had enough balls to tell their viewers at the time of the [Heidi inciden](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Heidi_Incident)t that a schedule is a schedule; if the football league can’t stick to it, it’s _their_ problem, not the network’s. Pissants. ---
**Author:** ![etv78](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/d78d45/32.png) [@etv78](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/etv78)\ **Post date:** [November 22, 2010, 4:50am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/damn-tv-delays-mild/561510/2 "2010-11-22T04:50:59Z")
So, are pissed at viewers, or sports leagues, or networks? ---
**Author:** ![hajario](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/hajario/32/171_2.png) [@hajario](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/hajario)\ **Post date:** [November 22, 2010, 4:53am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/damn-tv-delays-mild/561510/3 "2010-11-22T04:53:19Z")
I get your frustration but football brings them way more revenue than their Sunday night shows. They’d rather piss you off than the football fans. ---
**Author:** ![BlankSlate](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/blankslate/32/80_2.png) [@BlankSlate](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BlankSlate)\ **Post date:** [November 22, 2010, 5:22am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/damn-tv-delays-mild/561510/4 "2010-11-22T05:22:00Z")
It’s a liberal conspiracy. ---
**Author:** ![Antinor01](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/ecae2f/32.png) [@Antinor01](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Antinor01)\ **Post date:** [November 22, 2010, 5:33am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/damn-tv-delays-mild/561510/5 "2010-11-22T05:33:29Z")
Totally agree. Part of the reason I hate sports are the regular interruptions to the TV schedule. ---
**Author:** ![D\_Odds](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/d_odds/32/2882_2.png) [@D\_Odds](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/D_Odds)\ **Post date:** [November 22, 2010, 2:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/damn-tv-delays-mild/561510/6 "2010-11-22T14:05:26Z")
As a sports fan, all I can say is boo-fucking-hoo. Networks pay insane money to host sports, yet make far more off of sports than almost all other programming, especially on Sunday nights. When Heidi (or other Sunday night programming) makes more in commercial revenue than the NFL, then the next time the networks negotiate, it will change. Don’t hold your breath. ---
**Author:** ![Ravenman](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ravenman/32/2929_2.png) [@Ravenman](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ravenman)\ **Post date:** [November 22, 2010, 3:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/damn-tv-delays-mild/561510/7 "2010-11-22T15:04:40Z")
> [@Clothahump](#): > > I don’t watch commercial TV all that much. Mostly we DVR it and watch it later. Helpful suggestion that you’ll probably not be happy with: just set your DVR to record an additional 45 minutes after the normally-scheduled end time of your Sunday night programming. I do this for the Amazing Race. I think cable/satellite providers ought to figure out how to adjust their schedules on the fly so that when CBS knows that 60 Minutes isn’t going to start promptly at 7, the on-screen schedule would be adjusted to correct for the schedule slips. I also think that being surprised by Sunday night football games running long is like being surprised at traffic in the Lincoln Tunnel on a Friday night. Really? Are you also taken off-guard by sunrises? ---
**Author:** ![hajario](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/hajario/32/171_2.png) [@hajario](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/hajario)\ **Post date:** [November 22, 2010, 4:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/damn-tv-delays-mild/561510/8 "2010-11-22T16:19:30Z")
One advantage to being on the West Coast is that we rarely experience this. I guess I shouldn’t throw stones. ---
**Author:** ![VinylTurnip](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/v/b2d939/32.png) [@VinylTurnip](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/VinylTurnip)\ **Post date:** [November 22, 2010, 5:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/damn-tv-delays-mild/561510/9 "2010-11-22T17:07:47Z")
> [@Clothahump](#): > > I wish that the network execs had had enough balls to tell their viewers at the time of the [Heidi inciden](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Heidi_Incident)t I’d never heard of the “Heidi Game” before. That’s some funny shit. ---
**Author:** ![crowmanyclouds](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/crowmanyclouds/32/19884_2.png) [@crowmanyclouds](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/crowmanyclouds)\ **Post date:** [November 22, 2010, 6:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/damn-tv-delays-mild/561510/10 "2010-11-22T18:20:21Z")
Ahh, so this is what the howl of a broke-dick dog sounds like. CMC fnord! ---
**Author:** ![control-z](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/eada6e/32.png) [@control-z](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/control-z)\ **Post date:** [November 22, 2010, 7:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/damn-tv-delays-mild/561510/11 "2010-11-22T19:07:39Z")
Networks want viewers, they said what time the show would be on, stick with it dammit. And when you’re Tivoing a show you’re screwed if it’s more than 5 minutes or so off. I haven’t figured out how to set my Tivo to record extra time on the Sunday Simpsons but not extra time on the weekday reruns (same channel.) I don’t think it can be done. ---
**Author:** ![Ravenman](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ravenman/32/2929_2.png) [@Ravenman](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ravenman)\ **Post date:** [November 22, 2010, 7:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/damn-tv-delays-mild/561510/12 "2010-11-22T19:27:32Z")
> [@control-z](#): > > Networks want viewers, they said what time the show would be on, stick with it dammit. It is [pretty clear](http://tvbythenumbers.zap2it.com/2010/11/22/tv-ratings-sunday-eagles-fly-for-nbc-american-music-awards-down-from-2009/72962) that [football](http://tvbythenumbers.zap2it.com/2010/11/15/tv-ratings-sunday-nbc-wins-with-football-football-fuels-fox-but-animations-down-desperate-housewives-drops/72005) almost always draws [more viewers](http://tvbythenumbers.zap2it.com/2010/11/08/tv-ratings-of-course-sunday-night-football-wins-desperate-housewives-brothers-sisters-both-rise/71089) than anything else competing in the Sunday night time slot. ---
**Author:** ![Pai325](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/c68b51/32.png) [@Pai325](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Pai325)\ **Post date:** [November 22, 2010, 8:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/damn-tv-delays-mild/561510/13 "2010-11-22T20:48:25Z")
If they would just adjust 60 Minutes the way they used to, there wouldn’t be a problem. That show is all segmented; cut some. ---
**Author:** ![Clothahump](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/51bf81/32.png) [@Clothahump](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Clothahump)\ **Post date:** [November 22, 2010, 11:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/damn-tv-delays-mild/561510/14 "2010-11-22T23:46:30Z")
> [@crowmanyclouds](#): > > Ahh, so this is what the howl of a broke-dick dog sounds like. > > CMC fnord! Nah, nothing like it. I told you in the thread title that it was mild. Try reading it. ---
**Author:** ![doreen](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/858c86/32.png) [@doreen](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/doreen)\ **Post date:** [November 23, 2010, 11:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/damn-tv-delays-mild/561510/15 "2010-11-23T23:23:43Z")
Me, I’m pissed at the network. Almost every week, the football game runs over its timeslot. It’s not a surprise to the network any more than it is to me. So allot an extra half-hour or 45 minutes to the football game and schedule 60 minutes for 7:30 or 7:45 during football season. Let the football commentators keep talking if the game ends early, and cut out a half hour to an hour of the prime-time programming that is currently scheduled. Or schedule reruns from 7-8 Sunday night during football season. This is essentially how Fox has handled the issue, and it would make the East Coast affiliates happier ( currently the football delay delays their local news). Every other night of the week, prime time starts at 8pm. There no reason that can’t happen Sunday, except that CBS wants to keep football fans happy _and_ schedule 4 hours of primetime on Sunday and isn’t terribly concerned about keeping non-football fans happy. ---
**Author:** ![JuliaSqueezer](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/82dd89/32.png) [@JuliaSqueezer](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/JuliaSqueezer)\ **Post date:** [November 23, 2010, 11:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/damn-tv-delays-mild/561510/16 "2010-11-23T23:46:12Z")
Non-football fans like me just switch over to cable or watch something “in the can” (i.e.: saved on the DVR). It’s how I watch television now. I hardly ever watch a network show “live”. I figure the networks get their money from football, and they’re happy. It’s not going to change. If there’s ever a network show I’m interested in (like Amazing Race) I set the DVR under the assumption that it won’t start on time and set it to record 2 or 3 shows. Easy to erase the ones I don’t want. I can watch it later, avoid the commercials and I’m happy. Am I unique in doing this? When I read in the industry rags how the networks are concerned about declining audiences and loss of ad revenue, I do have to wonder about the cause. Are there more people like me who have just sort of abandoned ABC, CBS, NBC and Fox and their heavy reliance on sports and developed a habit of watching cable and DVR’d shows? ---
**Author:** ![Meatros](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/b4bc9f/32.png) [@Meatros](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Meatros)\ **Post date:** [November 24, 2010, 12:36am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/damn-tv-delays-mild/561510/17 "2010-11-24T00:36:42Z")
> [@Clothahump](#): > > I don’t watch commercial TV all that much. Mostly we DVR it and watch it later. But the goddam networks won’t stick to their schedules because of the stupid football games that run over +1 I completely agree. I do set my DVR to record 30 or so minutes over the programs time slot if there’s a game on before. ---
**Author:** ![Meatros](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/b4bc9f/32.png) [@Meatros](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Meatros)\ **Post date:** [November 24, 2010, 12:37am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/damn-tv-delays-mild/561510/18 "2010-11-24T00:37:45Z")
Granted, now that I think about it, I can’t actually recall what program gets interrupted… Certainly not my Sunday program “The Walking Dead”… 🙂 ---
**Author:** ![Lynn\_Bodoni](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/e47c2d/32.png) [@Lynn\_Bodoni](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lynn_Bodoni)\ **Post date:** [November 24, 2010, 1:43am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/damn-tv-delays-mild/561510/19 "2010-11-24T01:43:48Z")
> [@doreen](#): > > Me, I’m pissed at the network. Almost every week, the football game runs over its timeslot. It’s not a surprise to the network any more than it is to me. So allot an extra half-hour or 45 minutes to the football game and schedule 60 minutes for 7:30 or 7:45 during football season. Let the football commentators keep talking if the game ends early, and cut out a half hour to an hour of the prime-time programming that is currently scheduled. Or schedule reruns from 7-8 Sunday night during football season. This is essentially how Fox has handled the issue, and it would make the East Coast affiliates happier ( currently the football delay delays their local news). > Every other night of the week, prime time starts at 8pm. There no reason that can’t happen Sunday, except that CBS wants to keep football fans happy _and_ schedule 4 hours of primetime on Sunday and isn’t terribly concerned about keeping non-football fans happy. I think that this is more or less the solution. Go ahead and build some dead time into the schedule, because everyone, even people who hate sports, know that (American) football games will not end when they’re scheduled to end. I’ll wander through the living room, and ask my husband when the game’s gonna end, and he’ll reply with however many minutes are left on the clock. Then I ask him how long that is in real world time. Hell, sell ads at a reduced rate, to run between whenever the game’s SCHEDULED to end, and when it actually ends, the higher paying ads run first, and fill up the time that way.