I’m talking about live interviews with reporters, etc., in Iraq by newscasters here in the states.
it used to be there was a 5-7 second gap while we waited for the interviewer’s question to reach the reporter, and a similar interval for the reply to reach us.
Now that time lag seems to have disappeared.* Are the networks doing some quiet editing?
*Or I’m not being very observant.
If a signal is bounced off of a geosynchronous satellite (orbiting about 22,250 miles above the surface of the Earth), there will be a lightspeed delay of about 0.25 seconds each way. Throw in some processing time, and a delay for the person at the other end to process the question, and you end up with a 1-2 second delay from the time the news anchor asks a question to the receipt of an answer.
From my read of a National Geographic article a few months ago, though, its my understanding that transoceanic fiber optic lines are being used in a lot of cases instead of satellites. This would eliminate much of the delay.
Thank you, Robby, and I think your explanation is on the money. (But when the Iraq war broke out, it seemed the lag was more than 1-2 seconds. But that’s in the past and not important.)
If the anchor desk and the correspondent in Iraq don’t both have line-of-sight access to the same satellite, then the signal must make 2 or even 3 round trips to space and back. That explains some of the longer delays.