All this stuff about Janet’s tit on the superbowl has got me thinking.
IIRC all live programming is not actually “live”. It’s generally got a slight delay built in to deal with unexpected events, legal issues etc. Is this not the case with the superbowl?
Or in the US does live mean live
?
In the US live means live. Bono said “the fuck word” at the Grammy Awards once, and Saturday Night Live’s Chris Rock also used the word on a live broadcast.
And I mean to say “the eff word.” Sorry Mods.
There is often a slight delay in digital broadcasts, caused by encoding/compression/decompression/decoding, but it isn’t desirable.
I’ve heard of intentional delays being implemented in ‘live’ TV broadcasts (and they are not at all unheard of in radio), but for the most part, ‘live’ does indeed mean what it says.
Why don’t they use a seven second delay like in radio?
Even in radio, the delay is normally only used for things like call-in talk shows, where there needs to be protection against unexpected comments. On everything else, where the content is controlled by station employees, live is live.
On NBC’s ‘Today’ show, FCC chairman Micheal Powell suggested that the investigation into the halftime show might indicate a manditory delay for live broadcast TV in order to thwart indecent or questionable content.
As previously posted, most TV broadcast delays are caused by encoding/decoding and transmission times from remote to studio to network affiliates.
I think the Golden Globes were shown live with a delay. When Diane Keaton said “shit” there seemed to be an attempt to blank it out which was a split second too late.
The network airing the Grammy’s has announced that they will do the 5-second delay this year. What a surprise.
But normally it’s for audio only, I wonder how “the bleep button” works for video. A sudden silence is one thing, a sudden blank screen is another.
Wasn’t that Charles Rocket?
[sub]Heheheh. The “fuck” word. 
[/sub]
Well it seems it’s not just the US.
I was looking at the UK’s I’m a celebrity, get me out of here last night and when Johnny Rotten wasn’t voted off by the public he called them “fucking cunts” the “fucking” part is pretty normal for UK TV but not what followed. The two presenters then went on to apologise for the language. They’ll probably get a bit of hassle for it.
This after they had no problem showing a former pop star walking around with a very obvious erection under a pair of sweats.
The c-word also made it onto Australian TV via live broadcast about 10 or so years ago.
Courtesy of Mal Meninga, as a camera unwisely drifted within earshot of a pre-football match huddle (Rugby League, State of Origin - State v State, Mate v Mate, Date v Date).
Can’t recall what the repercussions were.
Charles Rocket, Paul Shaffer, and Norm MacDonald have all said “fuck” while on SNL. Rocket’s and MacDonald’s were quite obvious. If I’m not mistaken, Charles Rocket was fired from the show shortly after his little mishap, and MacDonald quickly got the boot too, albeit for additional reasons beyond just swearing on the air. Paul Shaffer’s was during a skit, and was a genuine slip of the tongue that a lot of people probably didn’t notice. (If I recall correctly, he said “fucking” instead of “flogging”.)
I don’t think Chris Rock ever said “fuck” while on SNL.
SNL admits to having used a tape delay on at least one occasion (a first-season show with Richard Pryor) and suggests that they had it ready for other episodes.
I think the general feeling among the networks has been that in live but staged events (like awards shows and Super Bowl half-time celebrations) that performers were supposed to be professional enough to know where the line is and not to cross it.
Obviously, the networks will have to rethink that presumption.
And I have a message in to a friend who’s an engineer for a broadcast network asking how practical a 7-second delay would be. If she gives me any good technical insight, I’ll let you know.
Snipped from today’s TV Guide online
FOOL US ONCE…: CBS, which is on high alert following Janet Jackson’s Super Bowl striptease, will air Sunday’s Grammy Awards on a five-minute delay to “safeguard against any unexpected and inappropriate content.” But despite rumors, both Jackson and her partner in crime, Justin Timberlake, are still scheduled to appear. But the pair could still be bumped if CBS’ probe finds that the pair intended to act like boobs. Speaking of breastgate fallout, for the first time ever, ABC will impose a five-second delay at this year’s Oscar telecast so that obscene material — like a best picture win for Seabiscuit — can be edited out. Meanwhile, America Online, which sponsored the Super Bowl halftime show, is reportedly seeking at least a partial refund of its $7.5 million investment
I used to work for a local affiliate and our “live” was live.
We had tapes of people saying cuss words on the other station’s live call-in show. How did the people at our station know to record the call-in segment of the other station… because we were the ones calling in and cussing on air.
A technical director at my station once figured out how long we could delay live TV by running the signal through all of the equipment. By routing every 1 inch tape machine, switcher and VTR together we could delay the signal by about 20 seconds. With the newer DVC pro and hard drives and other digital devices at the station, I know that today they can delay the signal even more.
According to this article:
Bono’s use of the F word “did not violate federal indecency rules”
TV stations use a “Time Based Correction” that is most useful for VTRs. You may notice it at work during satellite feeds when the signal is temporary lost; the video stays the same for a moment or two until the feed resumes.