Hopefully I can articulate this question properly.
I have been to a few tapings of television shows, all of which were of the “live studio audience” type, like talk shows (no sit-coms). In every instance, commercial breaks were “taped,” meaning that the director signaled the beginning of a commercial break, and then three minutes later (or whatever the precise duration of the break) started taping again.
Why is this necessary? Since all of these shows were edited for later broadcast, why not simply have the host say, “We’ll be back,” and then resume taping whenever the crew feels like it? Couldn’t a three-minute black-out be inserted into the show during the rest of the editing process?
What is it about television that would make this necessary?
I’d say because it’s easier to plan a break during filming, than to fit one in at the “right spots” during post-production. It’s also a convienent time for the host/director to take a quick break, get a glass of water, and hit on the production assisitant.
I’ve noticed this too… Why don’t they just say “‘we’ll be right back after this!’ <few seconds of pause> And 3… 2… 1… ‘We’re back!’” The break thing seems feasible but I wonder if there are other more important reasons?
It’s a choice by the producer. You can have a period of black as long as the scheduled commercial break, in which case the broadcaster can ignore the show, run the commercials, and when the commercials are over can go right back to the show.
Or, you can do what’s called a Stop Down Recue, in which case there may be a period of 10 seconds of black, and then the show resumes. In this case, the broadcaster has to stop the show, fast forward and cue up the tape to the beginning of the next segment, all while making sure the commercials run correctly.
Since a lot of broadcasting is now automated, having a period of black equal to the length of the commercial break probably makes things easier. Since you are referring to the “live to tape” shows, it’s quite possible that some broadcast outlets are airing the show live, in which case, the commercial break has to be the correct length.
ivylass, broadcasting career now going on 15 years
Some commercials are part of the broadcast packing. We visited our local TV station and they were showing us what commercials could be cut to add local commercials and which had to be shown and not cut out.
Most of the responses seem to be assuming that the show would be sent out without the commercial break edited in. What the OP is asking is why, during taping, they pause for the time of the commercial - instead of shorter or longer.
This has been going on for a long time. I saw a taping of Johnny Carson’s quiz show, “Whom do you Trust” clearly before 1962, and they actually ran the commercial during the taping (and Carson made jokes about it to the audience.) Perhaps back then editing was harder than now, so the show got sent out with the commercial, and it’s been tradition ever since?
It’s not always the same time. On Jeopardy they stopped the tape before Final Jeop so we could write the first word of the question (which they told us) and the PAs could give us water.